Peace for Monsters
by ScarletTigress
Summary: As Naruto approaches his first heat and the threat of possession by the Kyuubi, he is not merely content to survive another year. The Jinchuuriki is determined to find happiness with the people he cares about or die trying. Naruto/Sakura/Sasuke.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto was almost 18 when the nightmares first began in earnest. Before then, he had such dreams as often as he supposed every young male did, but it was not until a few months before his 18th birthday that Naruto began to wonder if his dreams were different than those of the other boys. After all, Neji asserted that a wet dream and a nightmare could _not _be the same thing. Even worse, the nightmares were much more frequent than they had been before. He woke in the night sweaty and trembling, not remembering what he had seen or why it had startled him so much. He panted and sobbed into the darkness, flesh flushed and quivering with the force of the arousal and yet cold from the fear coursing through his veins. At first, the young ninja told no one of his nocturnal terrors. After all, why give a village that had begun to truly accept him any new reasons to feel afraid or suspicious? He had things to do! People to save! Sleep was barely a luxury he could afford, much less some stupid dreams! So, every morning, the young man shook his head to clear the red from his vision and threw himself into his work. In typical fashion, Naruto kept the dreams to himself along with the fact that he sometimes awoke with the bedsheets shredded around him. Sakura sensed something was wrong, she always could, but her time was occupied with more urgent things. People lived and died under her hands and she had plenty of nightmares of her own. Naruto was relieved that she chose to leave it alone.

The war raged on around them, an ever present reminder of how cruel people could be. People no longer spoke in the market and Kakashi looked so much older than Naruto ever remembered seeing him. Sasuke's campaign of hatred was draining the life out of his sensei just as surely as Naruto's dreams drained the energy out of him. Sometimes the pale monster came once every couple months, sometimes twice in the same week. Every time the last Uchiha set foot into the village, another council elder was found grotesquely murdered. Revenge against the council for ordering Itachi to murder the Uchiha clan. All sacrifices to Sasuke's anger over the murder of his family, a shrine built in bones to the lies of his brother...Or perhaps they weren't lies. Naruto did not know, but the thought turned his guts.

"He's insane, Naruto. There isn't anything left of him to save!" Tsunade railed, gesturing to the bloodstained staircase where yet another council member lay dead.

Kakashi only shrugged, his eyes dull. Naruto smiled weakly, looking imploringly at his old sensei before turning to the hokage, "Well at least that isn't anything new. He has _always_ been insane."

Tsunade smiled a bit, "Ah Naruto, you really are an odd kid."

Naruto smiled again and with a deep sigh, turned and made his way back to the training field. Kakashi's eyes followed him as he left, drifting over the edge of his book. It was the same book, Tsunade noted, that he had been reading for the past six months. The Hokage sighed as she gave a few more repetitive orders to the group of nin assigned to cleaning up Sasuke's newest atrocity and turned to glare at the instructor. Kakashi ignored her look, his face impassive as usual behind his dark silk mask.

"He hasn't given up on the Uchiha brat." Tsunade hissed, shaking her head.

"Good. When he does...his spirit will have broken." Kakashi said coldly.

"What made you so damn cynical? It isn't like you are the only one forced to watch this shit!" Tsunade hissed, gesturing to the stairwell. Kakashi was silent for a long time.

"You treat Naruto as if he is your own family. Some favorite nephew perhaps..." Kakashi said, his eye distant.

"What of it? You love him just as dearly." Tsunade bristled.

"Oh, no you are wrong about that. I love him even more than you do and I know him better. He may be like your favorite nephew, but to me, he is the son I never had. He is like my own child." Kakashi explained. Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"What does that have to do with Sasuke?" She asked. He might be more cynical, but he was just as annoying and cryptic as ever.

"Sasuke is like one of my children too, and he is hurting very, very badly. Naruto senses this just as I do." Kakashi whispered.

"How? How can you feel pity for that...that...monster!" Tsunade shrieked.

"He is my son and I love him...Kami help me." Kakashi said, visibly deflating. Tsunade was instantly sorry for her tone.

"Kakashi...I...I'm sorry." The Hokage said, laying her hand on his arm. Kakashi closed his eyes, letting her comfort him for a moment. The world was too dark not to accept comfort when it was offered.

"Well, your _other_ son is looking terrible. Perhaps you should go ask Naruto why he looks so damn tired." Tsunade suggested.

"Hmmm." Kakashi agreed.

However, despite his best intentions, Kakashi found himself perplexed by Naruto's problem. The whole issue seemed, at first, nothing more than an acute case of the intense psychological pain that everyone in leaf was experiencing. The boy shrugged, saying that he was sleeping poorly and did not elaborate, but the circles beneath his eyes were as dark as bruises. Naruto had never suffered from insomnia before in his life and Kakashi had a nagging suspicion that the dreams were not so much the cause of the problem, but a symptom of something else. After taking Naruto out for some ramen and learning what little he could of the nightmares, Kakashi summoned a messenger and sent a letter to Gaara. Just in case.

OoOoOoO

Gaara arrived in Leaf with his usual lack of notice or fanfare, simply appearing at the border dressed in simple traveling clothes and demanding to be taken to Naruto. Still, even with his casual appearance, people cleared the streets to make way for the red haired Jinchuuriki. Gaara, and his small sand nin escort passed through Konoha like a wave passes through a lake. Afterall, Gaara was practically worshiped as a Guardian God in some parts of the world and with good reason. The Jinchuuriki, unlike Naruto, had never gone to any effort to hide the true breadth of his power. Not surprisingly, the only one not shocked into awed silence by Gaara's unexpected visit was Naruto.

"Hey Gaara! What a surprise! Hey, good timing too, cuz tomorrow is my Birthday and I was planning to stay home anyway, so we can hang out all day! You know, with the festival and all, not a good day to be walking about." Naruto gushed, herding Gaara into his small apartment.

"Yes, tomorrow you will be 18."

Naruto was not sure if it was a question or a statement, but nodded just in case. Scrambling to pick up some of the Ramen boxes that littered the floor, he gestured for Gaara to sit at the low table. The sand Jinchuuriki folded himself into a seated position with more speed and grace than even Sasuke had ever possessed. It was mildly creepy.

"Happy Birthday." Gaara said.

"Thanks! Wow! This sure beats just staying here all day by myself! Sakura is gonna come over and cook dinner tonight too! Oh, but not until later since she is busy at the hospital til' late." Naruto said excitedly. Gaara moved his face into what Naruto figured passed for a smile.

"Yes, I am glad I was able to arrive here in time. We have much to discuss, Naruto. As for you three, you may leave." Gaara said, gesturing to his escort. The sand nin bowed silently and left just as quietly.

"I have been told of your nightmares. This is very serious. We must talk." Gaara said once they were alone.

"Oh...okay. Can we have cake afterward?" Naruto said, a little disappointed. Gaara blinked.

"Of course. Do you dream now every night?" Gaara asked.

"Uh...yes. How do you know about this?" Naruto asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Your sensei wrote to me, but...I know mostly from experience." Gaara replied. Naruto's eyes widened.

"You...you have the nightmares?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but they aren't just nightmares are they?" Gaara asked, his cool green gaze totally still as he studied the other Jinchuuriki. Naruto blushed hotly.

"N..N...No." He finally replied.

"Naruto, I am a few months older than you and so I managed to go through it first. I came here to help you." Gaara said.

"Help me? Help me with what?" Naruto asked, suddenly very afraid.

"Help you with what I suppose might be considered your first heat." The sand god said shrugging.

"My...my...first..._what_?" Naruto practically squeaked.

"Of course that is not exactly what it is, there is nothing in the natural world to really use as a comparison. The process is one which demons have some corollary to, but even for them it is not the same." Gaara mused.

"Gaara...WHAT?" Naruto practically shrieked.

"Has it spoken to you yet?" Gaara asked.

"Who? What? What in the hell is going on!" Naruto snarled. Gaara held up a hand to placate him.

"Kyuubi. Has he spoken to you?" Gaara asked.

"Uh, no. I've only heard it speak a few times, and not lately." Naruto replied. Gaara sighed.

"Prepare to get an earful. Apparently there are few things demons care about quite as much as this." Gaara replied pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Gaara, what happened with you?" Naruto asked very quietly. He was not sure he wanted to know the answer. A shadow of pain crossed over Gaara's features.

"At first it was only dreams. Strange dreams, both sensual and terrifying, that I barely remembered. Soon I was having them every night and even at odd times during my waking hours. I felt...hypersensitive. I was almost always either aroused or exhausted. Three days following my eighteenth birthday, I became very sick and started running a fever. Knowing that there was something wrong with me, and sensing the demon stirring in my mind, I left the village and secluded myself in the desert to meditate. Soon, Shukaku began speaking to me. I had come of age you see, we Jinchuuriki mature very late. Shukaku burned inside of me, ready to take a mate. For days I fought with him. He argued for the merits of this female or that one. He would not accept any Kunoichi that was weak or unintelligent. When I refused them all, he demanded I at least take a subordinate."

"A subordinate? What's that?" Naruto asked, deeply disturbed.

"A male whom I would mount to sexually dominate. Preferably one that could also sire powerful offspring that would, through my domination of him, become my own. In essence, a subordinate may sire children to carry his bloodline, but they also carry the chakra of his alpha. In my case, the chakra that is both mine and Shukaku's." Gaara explained.

"Oh yuck! Did you?" Naruto exclaimed. Gaara blushed a bit, looking as miffed as he ever did.

"No! Like I told you, I was alone!" Gaara huffed.

" Well, so I just go on a journey or something for a few days?" Naruto asked, shrugging.

"Uh, that did not actually work out that well for me." Gaara replied.

"What? What happened?" Naruto was standing now, his heart pounding.

"I...I..." Gaara frowned, trying to order his thoughts.

"What? What happened?" Naruto roared. Gaara actually cringed.

"Shukaku tried to force me." He whispered.

"How?" Naruto asked, sitting again.

"He raised my body temperature until I was delirious and then tried to possess me. He promised me that he would choose for me unless I picked for myself. I knew...I knew he would hurt someone. I held him back as long as I could, for days, but the heat makes your mind weak. Eventually, he was overcoming me. In desperation, I threatened to kill myself. Shukaku might have overpowered me before I could take my own life, but I assured him that any pairing he achieved would be at the cost of his own life. In the end, he offered me a deal. I told him that I would choose both a mate and two subordinates by my next birthday." Gaara finished.

"Gaara...I..." Naruto began, shaking his head slowly. The sand god shrugged.

"It will at least be my choice." Gaara replied.

"So, there is no way around it?"

"I just _told_ you the way around it!" Gaara rolled his eyes.

"I mean...well...do you have anyone in mind?" Naruto asked, feeling foolish.

"I...I...have always had much fondness for Matsuri. Shukaku finds her too weak though." Gaara confessed, blushing.

"Yeah, she totally likes you too and Shukaku _did_ agree to let you choose. What about the subordinates?" Naruto asked. Gaara winced.

"I...uh...I am not really sure." Gaara replied.

"I guess that is the tough part. Why did you ever agree to claim _two_?" Naruto groused, crossing his arms.

"It seemed, at the time, a much better option than raping some random person of Shukaku's choosing." Gaara replied dryly.

"Yeah, I guess so." Naruto agreed.

"Anyway, the best course of action is to speak to Kyuubi and make a deal with him before you become too weak to resist his influence." Gaara pressed.

"Ugh! This is sooooooo dumb! Konoha already thinks of me as a total freak! What are people gonna say when I declare that I have to have a _pack_, not just a spouse! Are you sure we just have to accept this? There's a war on, you know, and I'm busy!" Naruto whined.

"I'm not sure. My own experiences might not be representative. Besides, aren't you sleeping with Sakura?" Gaara asked.

"Uh...no. We've been dating a while, but..." Naruto shrugged, "What happened with Sasuke really shook her up. She has mostly just been throwing herself into her work. We make out pretty regularly, but Sakura still worries that if she gets too close...something will happen to me too."

"What? You'll turn into a homicidal maniac and declare war on Konoha?" Gaara said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it isn't all that far fetched is it? I AM the vessel of the Kyuubi after all." Naruto spat bitterly.

"Yes, I suppose so." Gaara sighed.

"Still, I've only ever loved Sakura. I could not imagine ma...ma...uh...being with anyone else." Naruto finished.

"One other thing. There is a reason that the demons will only want the strongest ninja for mates and subordinates. The sharing of Jinchuuriki chakra is very difficult and if you choose someone too weak...they could die." Gaara said softly. Naruto's eyes widened hugely.

"Maybe it...maybe it is better to take our own lives then." Naruto said somberly.

"I have pondered, perhaps too often. Shukaku does not believe Matsuri will survive, though he does not know anything of a person's inner strength. Once bonded, however, almost nothing could ever hurt our mates. They will be nearly as invincible as we are." Gaara countered.

"That does not make any sense. Why put someone through something that might kill them to achieve invincibility?" Naruto whined, holding his head.

"They are not human. You must remember that when considering the situation, the demons do not do anything that is comprehensible to us. You must remember too, Naruto, we are not human either. Our needs are different." Gaara said, his gaze firm. Reluctantly, Naruto nodded.

"So Matsuri wasn't freaked out?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Um, she handled the idea surprisingly well. My decision is not final yet." Gaara said, waving a hand dismissively in the air.

"Well, you wanna have some cake?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." Gaara said, and almost smiled.

OoOoOoO

That night, Naruto resolved to take matters into his own hands. He wouldn't wait, as Gaara had, for the fever to weaken him. He would speak to the Kyuubi tonight and force it to acknowledge the fact that he would NOT mate with anyone until he was damn ready! He would show the demon who was in charge and hopefully dissuade it from getting any ideas. Things were far too chaotic already without having to worry about weird Jinchurriki mating requirements. Taking a deep breath, Naruto crossed his legs on his bed and began to meditate. Once centered, he began to reach into his own soul as he had only a few times before.

"Fox...can you hear me?" Naruto projected the call deep into his own psyche.

"_Of course, stupid human whelp, I hear most of your worthless human thoughts ."_ The demon spat.

"What is happening to me."

"_You are growing up...finally."_

"What are these nightmares I keep having."

"_My urges merge with your own in your subconscious while you dream."_

"Ugh, no wonder your 'urges' feel like a nightmare."

"_Oh, our tastes are not really so different."_

"No? How is that?" Naruto asked, annoyed.

"_That little rose haired Kunoichi, I know you like her. She is powerful too and obviously as intelligent as any of you human creatures ever live to become. I know you dream of touching her, of taking her, forcing her to think only of you and how well you fill her..."_

"Shut up!"

"_Hmm, is her flesh as delicious as it looks? As soft? I imagine it could be even more smooth than fire country silk, I wonder how powerful her healing ability must be to keep it free from scars..."_

"You are disgusting."

"_Oh, are you disgusted then? Imagining her writhing beneath you...all that pale flesh."_

Even in deep meditation, Naruto felt his face flush and his body harden at the thought of Sakura moving beneath him, her body soft and yet strong. The taste of her flesh, liker April rain, and the firm softness of her breasts against his...Naruto shook his head. Damn Kyuubi for filling his mind with such images! He knew the fox was trying to distract him.

"_Sorry, kit. You did that all on your own." _

"I will mate when I choose to."

"_The time is now."_

"No!"

"_Why fight it? The urge is all over you! You are practically ACHING with it!"_

"She...she isn't ready! What if it hurts her?"

"_She will survive if she is strong enough to be worthy. Your Kunoichi is far stronger than she appears, her body will not be damaged irreparably..."_

"NOOOO!" Naruto practically screamed as his mind was assaulted with images of Sakura.

He saw her, down on her knees, fighting him. The brush of her breasts against his fingers as he held her wrists was electric, as was the wild writhing of her naked back against his chest. By Kami, her skin was so smooth, like oiled silk... Her pink hair framed her face in a wild mass, making her look feral. Her efforts were strong, but she was helpless to escape him. Her struggles only excited him more as did the anger snapping in her emerald eyes and then, oh, and then he was i_nside_ her...

"Stop!"

"_Does it shock you that the idea of forcing her submission excites you so much? Perhaps I am not the disgusting one after all..."_

"I would NEVER do that to her!_"_

"_Are you sure? How do you know she wouldn't like it? The girl is strong, but she smells submissive to me. I bet she'd moan for you like a proper bitch taken that way."_

"Don't you DARE speak of her like that!"

"_I express only admiration for your female. She will make a fine mate."_

"She is not ready." Naruto repeated.

"_She will be ready when you MAKE her ready."_

"That is not how love works."

"_You already love her!"_

"I...I am not sure she feels the same way." Naruto confessed.

"_Peh, like it matters."_

"It DOES!"

"_Regardless, her affections are clear! She practically lives with you!"_

"She spends more time at the hospital in one day than she spends with me in a whole week. She has been pushing me away for a long time." Naruto sighed, frustrated.

"_All females desire security, the safety provided by a powerful mate. Where could she find one half so powerful as we are? Her love will come when she is made aware of your true strength..."_

"You don't understand humans at all. She will never love me merely because of a show of strength, if anything she will hate me!"

"_It is TIME kit! Mate her or choose another! There are females of even better quality anyway, the Hyuuga Princess has a powerful bloodline..."_

"NO! Leave her out of this! I don't even like her that way!"

"_Pity, she is a far more suitable mate than even Sakura. Afterall, Sakura's bloodline is weak and relatively untested while the Hyuuga clan has produced hundreds of years or powerful ninja." _

"Stop talking about Sakura that way! It does not matter what girl I choose, the point is it CANNOT happen NOW. We are in the middle of a bloody war, if you hadn't noticed. Even if you do bully me into taking a mate, our children will not be safe now. The whole idea of kits will have to wait anyway." Naruto reasoned.

"_Don't tell me you don't yearn for it too. Kits of your own..." Kyuubi whispered._

Naruto could not deny it. The images in his mind of being surrounded by small, laughing children who loved him for no other reason than because HE was their father was something he had secretly wished for almost all his life. Acceptance he didn't have to fight for, love without fear...how could he not wish? Most of his life Naruto had been the outcast, the pariah, but his children would love him and his heart swelled at the thought. How would it feel to have a family? To not be the only Uzumaki anymore? The old pain of constant rejection welled up within him again as Naruto pushed the thought aside.

"The hokage should not have children." He thought numbly.

"_What makes you think you can become hokage in the first place without the connections of a powerful mate like the Hyuuga or at least one as popular and well liked as Sakura?" _

"I will never force her. Now is not the time." Naruto held his breath, but the fox was silent a long time.

"_Fine. Take a subordinate then. As powerful as you have now become, the Uchiha should be no trouble to dominate..."_

"Sasuke? Are you INSANE? Naruto skrieked, his heart pounding.

"_I only mention him since you seem to be completely obsessed with finding him...that and he is the LAST. I suppose that holds some appeal. YOU are the one constantly chasing after him. I certainly haven't developed a taste for blood thirsty homicidal maniacs. Personally, I think the male Hyuuga, Neji, is a better choice. If you can bed him without getting a chill, that is. Of course if you could control them both..."_

"No! Neji? Euw! No way! And Sasuke is completely unhinged! Tsunade says there isn't anything left of him!"

"_But you don't really believe that do you? The Uchiha is an ideal subordinate, just think how strong his blood will make our young! Jinchuuriki kits with the power of the Sharingan, they will be unstoppable!" _

"What about the strong tendency for insanity that seems to run in that blood line?" Naruto countered sourly.

"_The Hyuuga then with his Byakugan, if you will not mate with Hinata. Both abilities are vastly valuable and a great asset to our young."_

"Neji is NOT up for discussion."

"_You may always take other subordinates later. For now, the Uchiha. You cannot deny that you have admired him. He is exquisite, is he not?"_

"It doesn't matter what I think about how he looks. Sasuke only understands hatred now, not love. Not love of any kind." Naruto argued miserably. He could not believe this conversation was actually happening.

"_The Uchiha is a loose canon without the proper domination. He needs an alpha even more than we need a subordinate! He will only find peace with another to control his passions. Think of it, all the power of the Uchiha clan beneath your thumb and his pale beauty beneath your body at night..." _

Naruto, despite his best efforts, _did_ think about it. He imagined Sasuke, his face melting from its customary sneer into an expression of stunned arousal as he pushed him down against the mattress. He could see the cool power in the pale limbs moving around him, in the whirling red eyes as the Uchiha writhed beneath him...

"_Yes. The Uchiha is a prize many have desired, but only you have the strength to claim him and when you do, when he finally submits to you..." _

Images flashed through Naruto's mind of Sasuke safely returned to Konoha, ever by his side, his to protect. He imagined tearing the kimono from Sasuke's shoulders and pushing him against the wall, running his tongue over the damned seal and feeling Sasuke tremble beneath him...knowing that the other man BELONGED to him.

"S-S-STOP!" Naruto yelped.

"_I only show you the truth. The Uchiha is dangerous without a strong leader, but won't he be delicious with that proud face buried in you pillows and his body yours to plunder..."_

"I...I...It doesn't matter. No one even knows where Sasuke is!"

"_Sure they do. He is here, in Konoha, I can smell him..."_

Suddenly Naruto was pulled from his meditation by the sound of quickly running feet. At first the sound did not quite register in his mind, but soon Naruto recognized the swift stride of his girlfriend as she hurried to his apartment. Even as he rose from the bed, cursing himself for forgetting that she was coming to make a late dinner, the girl burst through the door.

"Naruto!" She practically shrieked, her hair wind tossed and her chest heaving.

By Kami she was beautiful! Even shaken and obviously terrified, the girl still managed to look graceful and attractive. Shaking himself, Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes and could see immediately that she had been crying. He pulled her gently into his arms and felt that she was shaking.

"Sakura what is it?" He asked softly, running his fingers over her quivering cheek.

"N...Naruto I...Oh Kami!" She stuttered, her voice hitching with sobs.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked, suddenly very much afraid of what she would say.

"Sasuke! He..He's here! Kiba, Shino and Neji just captured him! They're dragging him to Tsunade now!" Sakura hissed, rubbing uselessly at her eyes. Naruto's breath caught in his chest.

"Oh." He barely managed to whisper.

"Even after all he's done...I...I..don't know if I want him to die. I love you Naruto, I do! I know you can't believe me with how...distant I have been, but I love you all the same! I have been trying for so long just to believe that someday we can just be together without the war, without the death!" She sobbed.

"I...I love you too Sakura. I always have." Naruto whispered gently, stunned by the force of her words. It had been a long time since she had been so direct with him.

"They are going to let ANBU torture him for information and then...then he is going to be executed, I know it!" She wailed.

"He has done many bad things." Naruto said simply.

"I know...I know he isn't the same, but I think maybe I am a bad person too."

"You? Are you crazy?" Naruto laughed nervously, genuinely shocked. Sakura's face took on a new look of desperation and Naruto's forced grin faded from his face.

"I have run from you because...because really you deserve much better. At the hospital I can save lives, do some good, but in you arms I always feel like such a failure. I love you, Naruto, but... I never really managed to stop loving him along with you. Even now, even after what he has become...I'm so stupid!" She wailed.

"No Sakura. You are not stupid, love is never stupid. Still, Sasuke will answer for his crimes...one way or another." Naruto said, the fox's words ringing in his head, ' He will only find peace with another to control his passions'.

"I know...He deserves it, I just...I just can't believe it's finally happening and...the thought of him really being dead is so hard." Sakura sobbed.

"Sakura, let's go."

"Go where?"

"Let's go to him, talk to Tsunade..."

"W..W..What? Naruto, they are going to KILL him! Do you really want to see that?" She asked, green eyes still filled with tears.

"No. No I don't. Maybe I'm the stupid one, but I never let him go either...maybe there is another way." He whispered, looking into her eyes in a way that made her tremble.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain later, come on!" Naruto said, pulling her onto his back and dashing out the door into the night.

OoOoOoO

Sasuke Uchiha half lay on the floor at Tsunade's feet, face flushed with fever and neck straign front the firm grip Kiba Inuzuka had on his hair. His angry eyes glared at Tsunade with a lifetime's worth of hate and she truly wondered if it was even worth while to keep him alive long enough for ANBU to have their interrogation. Kiba was right, the boy was a rabid dog and needed to be put down.

"How did you manage this?" The Hokage asked the three young ninja who stood grimly in her office.

The hour was late and the shadows caste by the lamp on her desk made them look like the four horsemen of the apocalypse come to drag one of their own back down to hell. Sasuke half looked like a corpse already.

"The way you catch any mad animal...by setting a trap." Neji replied coldly.

"We poisoned all the wells surrounding the village, but gave every villager the antidote. We told them that we were concerned about a plague outbreak upstream and that taking the medicine would protect them. No villagers were harmed, but after his last massacre we knew Sasuke would have drunk the water. We have been searching for him since the attack last night." Kiba explained. Tsunade had to admit, it was rather brilliant.

"The poison will be flushed from the wells by tomorrow morning." Shino finished.

"Well done. Why was I not included in this little plot?" Tsunade snarled. Neji's eyes slid to Kiba.

"You wouldn't have allowed it and...He murdered my great uncle! I can't just sit back and watch!" Kiba snarled.

"You uncle was a weak old liar." Sasuke hissed.

"Fuck you! Shut up or I'll tear your throat out myself!" Kiba shouted, savagely jerking Sasuke's hair. Tsunade could see the pain welling in the young Inuzuka's eyes and knew that he must have loved his uncle very much.

"I could not wait for him to take my grandfather or anyone else." Neji said, his voice as flat as Kiba's had been heated.

"He fought us, of course, but he is so weak from the poison that we were able to capture him." Shino said duly, sporting a rather obvious black eye.

"Perhaps we should let the poison finish its work..." Tsunade mused.

"You don't have the will to kill me yourself, you cowardly old bitch!" Sasuke rasped.

Kiba kicked him hard in the head and blood sprayed across Tsunade's office. The Hokage pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. This was what she had been trying to achieve for over a year, why did it now make her feel so cold inside?

"Shino, call a messenger for me. Now that we have Sasuke, perhaps a treaty with Sound can be reached." Tsunade said, trying not to look at where Sasuke lay stunned and bleeding on the floor. There was a sharp knock on the door.

"Come."

"Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno wish to join you." Shizune said softly. Tsunade nodded.

"Let them in."

The remaining members of the original team 7 entered the office as silently as only ninja can, Naruto looking cheerful and Sakura looking confused. That was never a good sign. Tsunade knew as well as anyone that Naruto's cheerful attitude was a sure indication that the youth meant business. If Sakura looked so unsure, it was only because the Jinchuuriki had not told her his plan and he definitely HAD a plan, of that Tsunade was positive. The Hokage mentally rolled her eyes, it was going to be a long night.

"Hi teme, good to see you again. Even if you do look like shit." Naruto addressed the quivering figure on the floor with a casual grin.

Sasuke turned enough to spit a mouthful of blood at Naruto's feet, but the blond's smile never wavered. Tsunade uttered a nearly silent 'Oh shit' and began calculating damage control in her head. This was going to be even worse than she thought. Naruto was always at his most dangerous when he wore his natural, child-like cheer as armor. Tonight it was at least ten-inches thick and probably hid a vast array of mental weapons armed and ready to be hurled into Tsunade's aching brain. Damn it! Nothing was ever simple. The Hokage pulled a bottle from beneath her desk and poured herself a glass of sake, to hell with what people thought.

"Naruto...maybe you should go. I know he was your friend..." Kiba said softly, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Oh, I'm sure he deserves it. Still, I have to bring a concern up with the Hokage concerning his sentencing." Naruto said, his tone friendly and non-confrontational. Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto, he will be given the maximum sentence." Tsunade said tiredly.

"Of course, but we don't want to martyr him now do we?" Naruto said, winking at Sasuke who started spewing curses.

"Why do you have to complicate everything?" Tsunade said, rubbing her brow.

"Because, the situation _is_ complex. We are still embroiled in a war that is costing Konoha lives every day. We cannot afford to lose any assets and you are talking about snuffing out one of the great bloodlines upon which Konoha was founded. Not to mention that in so doing, you will grant Sasuke his life's desire...to die majestically in the service of vengeance. Why settle for that when there are much more painful ways to punish him without taking another weapon from Konoha." Naruto said, his smile very sharp.

"Kiba, Shino, Neji: you are excused. Naruto, this better be good." Tsunade hissed.

The three ninja who had brought Sasuke in nodded and left with expressions of mixed confusion and relief. Neji caught Naruto's gaze for a moment, but said nothing. Soon the room was empty save for team 7 and the hokage. For a long time the only sound was Sasuke's labored breathing and the chink of the Hoakage's sake glass on the table. Sakura fought the urge to fidget as Naruto stared at Sasuke, his smile dimming for the first time.

"I have just been informed by Gaara that I will become physically mature in about three days and enter my first heat." Naruto said. Even Sasuke stopped breathing for a moment.

"I...I forgot that Jinchuuriki matured so late." Tsunade said, still confused what this had to do with anything.

"I have already begun fighting against the urges of the Kyuubi to take a mate, but Gaara assures me that I cannot fight it indefinitely. However, I may be able to postpone taking a wife, or potentially attacking someone, by claiming a subordinate." Naruto said with a frustrated sigh and a quick glance at Sakura who was still standin stunned behind him.

"I would say this is an unideal time for marriage, is there no other way?" Tsunade asked. Naruto shook his head.

"Gaara believes the only way to control the demon during the heat is to take my own life. It is an option he and I have both considered, but of course do not wish to take. Gaara has encouraged me to bargain with Kyuubi for more time, but he himself was only able to put off the mating for another year with that strategy." Naruto explained.

"Naruto! Why didn't you tell me!" Sakura gasped.

"I only heard today..."

"So Gaara is on the hunt for a mate and simultaneously planning his own suicide...how comforting." Tsunade groaned. Naruto ignored her.

"Dobe, no one cares about your pubertal problems." Sasuke snarled weakly. Naruto ignored him as well, though Sakura glared icy murder at the Uchiha.

"The Kyuubi has told me that my subordinates will be bound to my will through chakra as well as...as...dominated sexually." Naruto blushed despite himself, Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, shit..." Sakura whispered.

"The Kyuubi wants Sasuke. Under my will, he will no longer be a threat to Konoha or any other village unless directed by me and his bloodline will still continue. In fact, his bloodline will be perpetuated with my chakra, producing some of the strongest ninja the world has ever known. Konoha will still have the Sharingan and I will have struck my bargain." Naruto finished. It took a moment for his words to settle in.

"How dare you! Only YOU could be stupid enough to even COME UP with of something so ridiculous! I must have kit you harder than I thought, only someone with brain damage would even bother suggesting..." Sasuke growled, sharingan eyes blazing with rage.

"Are you saying...that you are going to breed Sasuke here, like some kind of racehorse, with your mate?" Tsunade asked, interrupting Sasuke's tirade.

"From what Gaara told me, that is the general idea. He will become part of my family, my pack, Jinchuuriki do not form families the way humans do." Naruto whispered, almost sadly.

"What about your mate?"

"I...I...do not want to pressure anyone into a decision like that, especially because it might be dangerous for the person involved." Naruto said, carefully _not _looking at Sakura.

"But you don't mind raping Sasuke to satisfy the Kyuubi..."

"Like you even COULD dead last!" Sasuke shrieked, struggling to rise.

"He is a criminal requiring a sentence and possessing a powerful bloodline, seems somewhat ideal actually." Naruto said with a trace of bitterness.

"I'll kill you, if it is the last thing I do, I'll kill you both..." Sasuke had managed to get onto his knees, his face a pale mask of blood and hatred.

"Naruto, do you really want to take that...that t_hing_ into your bed? You deserve so much better..." Tsunade said gently.

"It is the best choice for Konoha. Besides, who better than my best friend?" Naruto said with a smile that broke Tsunade's heart.

"Just because I tolerated your ineptitude doesn't mean I l_iked_ you. I was NEVER your friend, dobe!" Sasuke spat.

The words hit Naruto like a blow and the youth flinched despite himself. Sakura shook her head as if brushing off the stunned paralysis held her, a dark frown gathering between her eyebrows. The kunoichi marched up to Sasuke like a storm rolling in from the ocean and slapped him hard across the face. The blow laid the raven-haired youth out once again and this time he didn't rise. Tears gathered in her eyes, but the fury expressed in Sakura's posture was unmistakeable.

"Fuck you Sasuke Uchiha! Only you could say something like that to the only person in the world who cares to save your worthless life! You don't DESERVE a friend like Naruto! You don't deserve to be his subordinate!" Sakura shouted. Sasuke glared at her, but only continued to bleed on the floor in silence.

"She is right. I cannot feel good about foisting this monster off onto you, Naruto. There are many others who might be willing..." Tsunade began, but Naruto held up his hand.

"I can end his life if it becomes necessary, and I can always take other subordinates, but I...I have to try. Please." Naruto's blue eyes were firm. Tsunade sighed.

"Very well. As Hokage, and in light of recent crimes, I hereby officially dissolve the Uchiha clan entirely. All property, estates and funds are hereby granted to Naruto Uzumaki in gratitude for and recognition of his many sacrifices made for the safety of Konoha. Granted to him also will be the marriage contract of the prisoner formerly known as Sasuke Uchiha, who will, as of now, be known only as Sasuke Uzumaki. From this moment on, the Uchiha are no more." Tsunade declared, writing as she went. Sasuke's eyes became wide and frightened.

"W...W..What?"

"I must let ANBU interrogate Sasuke, but whatever is left when they are done is yours Naruto." Tsunade said, still writing.

"Thank you, Hokage. Please ask them to only do what is necessary..." Naruto said, his tone flat.

"You can't! You can't do this!"

"Further, as I still believe him a possible threat to you if not to Konoha as a whole, the chakra pathways in Sasuke's left knee will be broken. If, after one year your control over him is secure, his body can be repaired so that he may better serve you..." Tsunade continued.

"Hokage, that procedure will basically cripple him..." Sakura began, her face pale.

"NO! You can't DO this! No! No! Kill me! Kill me!" Sasuke wailed.

"It is done." Tsunade said and the thump of her seal on the pages made it final.

OoOoOoO

"This place gives me the creeps. I bet it's haunted." Naruto whined as he and Sakura crept through the large reception chamber in the darkened Uchiha estate.

With his enhanced night vision, another gift from the damn fox, Naruto nervously surveyed the space. It seemed positively cavernous. The polished wood floor was dull under ten years worth of dust and dingy white furniture covers had been draped over any tables or statuary that had once graced the room. Heavily carved sliding doors made of wood that looked almost black stood at the top of a wide set of stairs, casting long shadows like a trio of dark sentinels. Naruto shivered. The whole place seemed to scream at him to get out, all of it cold and foreboding.

"People were massacred here." Naruto said, his hair all on end.

"Well, I guess it's yours now, ghosts and all." Sakura said glumly.

"What? I didn't know Tsunade was going to do this! It's not like I WANTED castle dracula for my love nest. I guess she didn't feel like forcing Sasuke to be my love slave was punishment enough." Naruto practically spat. Sakura sighed.

"Naruto...it isn't that. I'm sorry."

"Well, what is it then?" Naruto growled, his temper rising.

"Well, it's just, why didn't you ask _me_ instead?" Sakura whispered.

"Ask you what?"

"W...W...Well if you needed a mate..."

"Would you have done it out of pity?" Naruto asked, his eyes golden mirrors in the weak light of their lantern.

"NO! How could you think that?" The girl snarled.

"Sakura, you have been my girlfriend, officially, for almost a year. Still, you barely let me hold you or kiss you or touch you and what Kyuubi has in mind isn't a bit of mild petting. I knew you weren't ready. I...I... haven't even been sure that you were really in love with me." Naruto said, his form lost in the darkness and only the glowing eyes giving Sakura any indication of his location.

"Of COURSE I love you! Naruto, sometimes you are so stupid!" Sakura shouted. His eyes narrowed.

"I know you love me...I just don't know if you are _in love_ with me. There is a difference."

Sakura was silent for a moment, watching the twin mirrors of the Jinchuuriki's eyes. She really had no right to be angry. Naruto was confused and in his position anyone would be. How could he know that the old hurt of losing Sasuke had never healed and that she had been afraid to feel anything at all? She loved Naruto, but getting close to anyone had been hard.

"I know I haven't been much of a girlfriend to you, but it wasn't because I don't love you. I...I haven't really been myself for a while now. No matter who I am with or what I am doing, it is just so hard not to feel numb to everything. Working at the hospital just makes it worse. When I am there it _helps_ to be numb, to be dead inside, to do the work without feeling. I kind of got used to it." Sakura said, her voice shaking a little.

"Sakura..."

"No! You don't understand! You see, it's safe to just walk around with no emotions, but...but I can't _do_ that when I'm with you. When I'm with you, when we are together...you make me _feel_. You make me feel so much that I...I..I felt like I was drowning in it. We would touch and all my emotions would crash back into me and I just couldn't even...I have been distant because I AM in love with you." Sakura confessed.

"What do you feel when you are with me?" Naruto asked, his voice neutral, but Sakura could still hear the fear in it.

"I feel everything I haven't been letting myself feel since Sasuke left. I feel pain, anger, betrayal, guilt, hope, love..."

"All those things you feel for him." Naruto sighed.

"No, you're wrong. That is the confusing part. I feel those emotions for BOTH of you. I feel desire, Naruto, passion, want, joy! I want you, but I never could stop myself from wanting him too. I mourn for the part of you that died when Sasuke hurt you in the Valley of the End just as much as I mourned when he left Konoha. It's just...It's just been too much to sort through and every time I try I just end up feeling so lost and so, so guilty..." Sakura said, hiding her face in her hands. Naruto finally approached her, laying his hands on her trembling shoulders.

"What could you possibly have to feel guilty for?" Naruto asked gently.

"B...B...Because you deserve better Naruto! You deserve someone who isn't so broken. You deserve someone who can love you alone, who doesn't have her heart all tangled up in things from the past." Sakura said, her green eyes full of pain.

"Maybe that is what I deserve, but that isn't what I _need_."

"What do you mean?" Sakura snuffed.

"Sakura...I'm not really human. I don't need the same thing from a woman that a...a.. normal man does. I need someone who _loves _me, someone who will never leave me, but..."

"But?"

"I need someone who can accept others into her heart and make a family. Someone who can hold me and any subordinates I claim together into a unified whole. I don't just need a woman, I need a pack leader, an alpha." Naruto said, his hands moving over her shoulders in warm, soothing circles.

"Is that what Gaara told you?" Sakura asked.

"No, that is what I _know_ in my gut, what my body is telling me. Gaara still doesn't really understand what is happening to him, he just wants to survive it. I don't want to just continue to exist, Sakura, I want to _live_. I want to...to...have a real family. I w..w..want be h...h...happy." Naruto finished with a half formed sob of his own.

"Naruto, I love you so much! Please, I can be what you need..." Sakura whispered and then she was kissing him.

They had kissed before, many times, but never like this. Her lips moved over his with a hunger he had never felt from her before. Her hands, no longer tentative, grasped his hips boldly as Sakura molded herself to his chest. Naruto gasped in surprise and her tongue surged into his mouth stroking his own fearlessly in wet velvet caresses. Almost of their own accord, Naruto's hands moved down her back to squeeze her ass. By Kami, she felt heavenly! Instead of pulling away, Sakura moaned low and hungry into his mouth, digging her nails into the fabric of his pants. Naruto felt an answering moan build in his chest as her hips ground against him, moving in maddening thrusts against his hardening body. He moved one of his hands from the firm globes of her buttocks to grip her hair as she nipped aggressively at his lips.

The scent of her was slowly driving all reason from his brain and Naruto could feel every curve of her body through the material of her tunic. Her mouth was hot as she moved from his mouth to kiss his neck, pausing to lick his earlobe as she moved down his throat. She bit down on the long muscle of his throat and Naruto practically snarled as a fierce bolt of hot pleasure surged through his body. No longer content to merely knead the firm flesh of her ass, Naruto lifted her against him, until her feet practically left the floor. Her hand stroked the front seam of his pants, tracing the hard shape of his cock beneath the cloth. Naruto moaned again as the first haze of red began to seep across his vision. Her hand moved more firmly, cupping him through the cloth.

"Big..." She whispered as her thumb brushed the tip of him.

Even through the fabric, Naruto felt like his penis had been caressed with an ember. Her touch was so electric and a deep aching desire filled him, as he teeth began to lengthen in his mouth. The whole world seemed red, lit up as if with a crimson searchlight, as the Kitsune moved within him. The Uchiha house no longer seemed dark, the whole room was aglow as if the sun itself had risen in his arms. Sakura's flesh was hot and so very soft and smooth, he ran his hands beneath her tunic, delighting in the firm muscles of her back.

"Naruto...Naruto..." He could not tell if it was a question or merely just a mantra as Sakura circled his waist with her legs.

He held her easily against him, her weight as insubstantial as a feather compared to the force of his need. The hand in her hair tightened, pulling her head to the side to expose the slender column of her throat. Naruto kissed her throat, dragged his fangs along Sakura's flesh to feel her tremble in his arms. His breath was coming in short pants, his mind becoming lost in her scent, in the feel of her body, the scent of her own excitement...

"Ow!" She startled.

"Wh...What's wrong?" Naruto barely managed to gasp. He tried to release her, to put her down and see what the matter was, but his hands seemed unwilling to obey.

"I...I'm not sure. Something sharp..." The girl whispered, a little embarrassed.

With an audible groan of effort, Naruto set Sakura down and backed away to where he could safely speak to her without losing his mind entirely. There was something hot in his right hand, something wet and sticky...

"Oh...Oh NO!"

"Naruto! What's wrong? I can barely see..."

"I...Oh kami! I...I must have scratched you. I'm so sorry!" He said, his voice heavy with misery.

"Well, it wasn't bad, just a little pain. Can't be anything serious..." Sakura said, though her back had started itching and she knew that once the endorphins flooding her system subsided, she would be in pain.

"Sakura, turn around and let me look."

Naruto swallowed loudly. There was blood on his hand, his claws were coated in it even as they receded back into normal human nails. Maybe it was a small wound that had been bleeding for a while, that might explain it. Naruto sent a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening and didn't even care if it was the Uchiha ghosts. Sakura, flushed red with embarrassment, slowly turned around.

"OH! Um, oh, uh SHIT! Don't panic, everything is going to be fine. No problem! We, uh, we just need to go to the hospital..."

"What? Naruto don't be silly!" Sakura asked. She hurt now, but still not very badly. He was obviously over-reacting.

"No...No talking. We have to go, _now_."

That was when she heard it. Such a soft sound, she would never have noticed it unless the room was absolutely silent. It was. Naruto wasn't breathing and neither was she and so she could hear the soft, slow, tiny sound of her blood dripping to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! So this is not the most light hearted story, but I am really enjoying writing it and, as always, it will have a happy ending if I actually finish it. Please note the rating, as this is really not a mild story and will eventually contain very graphic sexual situations of both a homo and hetero erotic nature. This is the story of a threesome and that means boy/girl love and boy/boy love, but more importantly it is a story about the way that love can help people to heal and find acceptance. This chapter especially is going to have some graphic torture so if that kind of darkness bothers you, PLEASE do not read on! Thank you to the person who wrote a review, it made my world. Please review this story if you want to see it continue because I would really love to know what people think and I don't want to work on a story no one likes when so many people are waiting for updates on some of my other works. Thanks! Enjoy!

The cold water flung in his face forced Sasuke into consciousness once again. He was awake, though his mind had long ago ceased to comprehend exactly what was happening to him. The searing pain came roaring back into his awareness as soon as he opened his eyes. How long had it been? Days, hours...minutes? The Uchiha didn't know, if not for the agony scorching his body Sasuke would not have even been sure that he was still alive. There was no light in the tiny room in which he had been brought for interrogation, no light and only the sound was his own blood dripping to the floor. The long pin inserted into his shoulder, beside the sensitive bundle of nerves bringing sensation to his arm, was the only clear part of his awareness, like it had become_ part_ of him somehow. The cold metal was twisted and he fought not to scream as the pain radiated down his arm once again. Even as the nerves sang their last awful note, a spark of electricity was touched behind his left ear until the pain filled his head and vibrated through his jaw.

One pain blended into another, hot and cold, sharp and dull. He was silent through it all, not even giving his interrogators the satisfaction of hearing him scream. His body was a symphony of pain and he could not help but admire the virtuosity of his torturers. Had he been anyone else, he would have been broken into a sobbing heap hours ago, but _he_ wasn't just anyone. He was powerful, _special_ and nothing ANBU did could ever change the simple truth of that. Sasuke spat the bloody water from his mouth and schooled his features back into frigid indifference. Neither of the men, he assumed they were men, performing his interrogation said anything. They were professionals, far above any petty gibes or threats unless they truly thought words would work when simple pain did not. Still the pain, perhaps eventually it would be enough... The Uchiha retreated deep into his own mind and, as always when he was too exhausted to meditate…he thought of Naruto.

The deep warmth of fondness for his old classmate filled him and Sasuke was simply too tired to tamp the feeling back down. Instead, in a moment of terrible weakness, he embraced the warmth and let it soothe him. He remembered the blond idiot as he had been as a child, instead of the wily and sharp young man he had become. Love was weakness and even the fondness of a friend gave his enemies an advantage, but he could not manage turn the feeling into hate. He needed anger to hate Naruto and the pain had sapped his anger away as surely as the torture sapped his blood. There was too much pain and hate was an exhausting emotion. There had been a time when things were brighter, simpler and Sasuke had belonged somewhere other than in hell. He floated, lost in memories of guileless blond sunshine and deep acceptance, never false and always available. The pain seemed to fade away, lost amongst the warmth, and Sasuke fought not to sob. His mind was slipping, his control totally gone…

"The pain is fading, isn't it?" the voice was cold, full of metal.

The Uchiha couldn't respond, but he heard himself choke out a moan as if from very far away. The warmth was slipping, leaving him in icy darkness once again, but there was no pain. It was true, there was no pain. He felt cold, almost numb, his precious walls broken and his consciousness uncertain. Sasuke smiled a little. He was dying, dying without uttering a single word, and it was beautiful…

"They always think it means the end when the pain goes away…sad thing." The voice said again, almost wistfully.

"W…What?" Sasuke whispered. He couldn't help it, the man had his attention.

"Oh, when the pain fades it doesn't mean that you are dying. No. It is just that your body begins to slow down, freeze up to conserve energy. A kind of waking hibernation designed to help you survive the damage. Ninja can keep it up for hours, days, even weeks sometimes. This is the point when we can really get started, but people are always so disappointed…" The voice sounded truly regretful.

"No…" Sasuke breathed. It was a lie, it had to be.

"You'll see for yourself, unless you want to tell us where Orochimaru's caches are now…"

"No." Sasuke tried to sound firm, but his response sounded more like a plea.

"Well then, best not waste any time. A week really isn't much time. Don't forget that you can always change your mind." The interrogator said with a tired sigh.

Sasuke never had the chance to respond before the pain began again, shredding the numbness away, catching him by surprise. He screamed and tried to stop, but the command from his brain did not seem to penetrate the blazing shell of agony in his flesh. He screamed until his throat was raw and kept screaming anyway. Even Sasuke's many years of control and training could not save him from the shame. The Uchiha never even realized that, after awhile, he was shrieking Naruto's name.

OoOoOoO

Naruto paced, sometimes pausing to tap his foot softly on the dull looking green tile. The hospital was cold and he dug his hands deeper into the pockets of his pants. Sakura had said once that it was intentional, keeping the hospital colder to help slow bleeding in surgery or something. Naruto gnawed his lip and hoped that it was cold enough to help her. Some of the nurses paused to stare as he paced and he smiled at them, but did not pause. The last thing these poor people needed was someone making them nervous and Naruto almost went back to the bathroom to wash his hands again. He had tried washing his hands before, but the awful crimson of Sakura's blood seemed fixed to his skin, stuck deep under his nails. Birthdays were usually lonely affairs, but Naruto could not recall one being quite this bad.

"Uzumaki?" The voice was gentle, but Naruto practically leapt out of his skin at the sound of it.

"Yes!" He answered, a bit too loudly.

"The doctor has finished with Haruno Sakura, I thought you might want to know. You can see her now if you like. Please do not worry, your little training accident was really much more minor than it looked." The nurse said with a warm smile that reached all the way up to her eyes. Naruto twitched back a smile in return.

"Training accident?"

"Well, yes. Sakura said you were trying a new technique?"

"Ne, yes we were...I guess." Naruto said nervously.

"Well, it bled quite a bit, but the wounds were shallow and the doctor doesn't think that they will even scar." The nurse said, gesturing towards the room where Sakura waited.

"Oh, thank Kami!" Naruto sighed, one hand to his forehead and the other over his heart. The nurse chuckled.

"Well, the business of ninja can be dangerous..."

"He, believe it!" Naruto replied with a grin and followed her back into the hall filled with exam rooms.

The nurse paused at one of the doors and knocked softly, there was a soft "come in" from inside and the nurse held the door open. Naruto could hardly hear over the thundering of his heart. Would she even want to see him? Could they even still be friends after this? He swallowed heavily and walked closer.

"Naruto? Have you been here this entire time?" Sakura peeked from behind the nurse's rather considerable girth, blushing hotly.

"Believe it." He said again, much more quietly.

Sakura sat perched on the exam table just inside the little room that was still mostly hidden by a green hospital curtain. She held her shirt over her chest even though she was still wearing an open-backed hospital gown. Naruto gasped. Despite the gown and the shirt held against her chest, the supple curve of her back and muscular belly were still fully exposed to his eyes. The elegant curve filled his mind with rather detailed depictions of what it would look like if he could just see the flesh _all_ the way down. He swallowed hard and tried not to stare. Despite all their time together, he had never actually _seen _her body this way. Sakura was tremendously self-conscious and had always insisted in having the lights turned off any time they were romantic together.

"You...you are so beautiful." Naruto whispered. The nurse chuckled again and left shaking her head.

Sakura smiled a little, but blushed even more deeply. Ever so slowly, as if it cost her a great effort, the girl lowered her tattered tunic and placed it beside her on the exam bed. Naruto swallowed as the hint of her breasts showed through the thin fabric.

"Not 'are you okay'? Naruto..." Sakura said, but smiled so he knew she wasn't angry.

"Ah! I...I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking! Are you okay?" He asked blushing himself.

"Yes, fine. I told you that it couldn't be bad..." Sakura said, pushing her hair out of the way.

"It LOOKED bad! I was so scared! What if, what if..." Naruto suddenly shouted.

He could not help it. Once the shock of her almost-naked-but-not-really body wore away, all that was left was the terrible fear that she had been hurt and worse that HE had hurt her. He wanted to shake her, tell her that it had been SERIOUS damn it! He wanted to cry or scream or just run away so that he could never hurt her that way ever, ever again! Sakura must have seen the panic rising in his eyes because she leapt from the table and wrapped him in her arms. Naruto tried to move away, but he was shaking too badly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I am so sorry!" He said it again and again, terrified even to hold her.

"I'm ok! Really! Shhh, it's ok!" Sakura whispered trying to calm him.

"You're not! You are NOT ok! You...you were bleeding!" Naruto wailed.

"Ninja bleed sometimes."

"Not...not like THAT!" He snarled.

"Naruto please...please...does this mean I'm too weak?" Sakura said, tears gathering in her lovely green eyes.

"Weak? What?"

"You said...kitsune...you said kitsune told you that you could never be with anyone too weak. Are you, are you going to leave me?" She asked, trying not to sob.

"I...I feel like maybe I should." Naruto replied, the words like rocks in his stomach.

"No! Please! It was just an accident! I am not even hurt that badly, the scratches are all closed. You don't have to worry! I can do it!" Sakura wailed.

"Sakura..."

"No! You can't leave me this way!"

"I love you too much to hurt you..."

"You hurt me like this! This hurts worse! Naruto, you IDIOT!" She roared.

Her chest was heaving with rage, eyes red from crying and teeth clenched. Naruto's eyes widened. Sakura clenched her fists hard, dropping her gaze to the floor, struggling for control. With a sigh, Naruto moved to lay a hand on her shoulder. He did not even see her hand as the girl switched her stance and struck him hard across the jaw. Sakura had not meant it as a light slap, her nails raked his face, drawing blood, and the force of the blow threw him from his feet.

"I am NOT weak!" She snarled, face flushed and hair wild.

Naruto stared up at her from the ground and could not help but agree. She looked like some kind of avenging demon, even Sasuke would have been intimidated. He gingerly touched his face where the deep slashes were only just closing. She had hit him _hard_.

"Naruto Uzumaki, will you marry me?" She hissed, moving her foot menacingly against his chest.

"Y...Yes." He whispered as a scarlet haze fell over his vision. By the gods she was beautiful, so beautiful!

"_Yes, beautiful." _The kitsune agreed with utter sincerity_. _


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you so much everyone who took the time to review even if you just let me know that you like it and are reading, that is enough for me! A special thank you to stormingnight who reviewed both chapters, the second would not have been written without you. Thank you everyone and please keep me updated on how I am doing, I really look forward to the feedback!_

"This sucks." Naruto complained, wiping the sweat from his brow.

The jinchuriki gave a long sigh before bending again to the seven inches of dust coating the floor of the Uchiha mansion. No matter how long he scrubbed, the dark wood never looked truly clean and it raised his hair thinking about just what exactly the gunk on the floor could be. The blood of Sasuke's family...Naruto shuddered and fought back the urge to vomit. Above him, he could hear his shadow clones complaining to each other as well and he chuckled. True, talking to a shadow clone was just a more direct form of talking to yourself, but the buzz of their conversation soothed him nonetheless. Naruto had created almost fifty of the clones to help him clean the main house of the Uchiha compound and the drain on his chakra was making him more tired than he would normally be. Being tired was making him irritable. With a final huff of disgust, Naruto threw the scrub brush against a wall and stood to stretch his back.

He hoped Sakura would return from her shopping soon, he hated being alone in this cavernous palace filled with ghosts and who-the-hell-knew-what on the floors. He missed his fiance, even for the few hours of her absence, and smiled toothily at the reminder of her 'proposal'. What would she have done if he had said no? The possible answers to the question made him laugh and the clones tittered upstairs in shared amusement. Naruto looked around, at what nearly a week of labor had earned him.

One thing could be said for the Uchihas: they never did anything cheap. The house had been abandoned for more than a decade, but the fine wood had not rotted much and the shingling had not let even a single trickle of rain in. The carpets and tatami were ruined, but beneath them the flooring was solid and in good condition. The paper screen between rooms would all have to be replaced, and would be once Sakura returned, but the interior walls were still dry and free of mold.

Naruto looked around. The walls needed to be re-painted, the floor polished, furniture replaced, but even as the house stood now it was liveable. True, he still preferred his tiny, roach infested apartment over what he had come to think of as a sort of living tomb. Sakura did not share Naruto's superstitions, however, and insisted on living in the Uchiha estate as soon as it was comfortable. Looking into the darkened maw of the hallway he was trying to clean, Naruto wondered if comfortable would ever be an adjective that he could truthfully use for this place.

"I'm back!" Sakura's cheerful voice drifted into the house along with the sound of many booted feet.

"You and what army?" Naruto asked as he wove his way through the hallway to the front door.

"Very funny." Sakura said as she tried to remover her sandals and balance a gigantic blue vase on one hip at the same time.

All around the girl, men with wrapped parcels, furniture, rolled rugs and lighting fixtures were trooping into the house. Naruto moved to rescue the vase discovering that it was much heavier than it looked and tried to stand in the way of three different groups of workmen at once.

"What the hell?" He shouted as the men moved around him, totally unconcerned.

"Sakura who are all these people? What is all this stuff?" Naruto asked, snarling slightly at another of the workmen who ignored him as easily as the others.

"This? I went shopping." She said as if that explained the invasion of people and stuff still trickling into the house.

"Yeah, but...how did you even afford all this shit?" Naruto asked, branishing the vase like a battering ram against a rather confused looking carpenter.

"The Uchiha's have a rather vast account with the treasury, I went and asked just in case you needed to sign any paperwork and discovered that I had plenty of money for redecorating." She said with a shrug.

"But, but, but...That's Sasuke's money!" Naruto shouted.

"No. No, it isn't. After Tsunade sent them her proclamation, they moved it all into you account under your name. Sasuke couldn't access it if he wanted to and don't you think that this is an honorable use of the Uchiha fortune? I mean we _are _trying to repair and decorate _their_ house." Sakura explained.

"I guess so...still seems like stealing." Naruto mumbled but followed her where she was directing the carpenter to fix one of the doorways.

"It bothers you to use Sasuke's money to fix Sasuke's house, but you have no problem basically enslaving him?" Sakura asked as she moved to instruct a team of painters.

"That's just it, it DOES bother me, but I didn't see any other way. Besides, its supposed to be marriage, not slavery..." Naruto sighed.

"Naruto...I didn't mean to say it like that. I just...I mean...Sasuke is always difficult." She sighed and gestured helplessly.

"He is going to hate us you know, if he lives through interrogation. Believe it." Naruto whispered.

"I know, but is there anyone out there he doesn't hate at this point? Even the other people in that little band of murders he put together, Taka, he only tolerates them. Sasuke hates every person who has ever dared come into his life." Sakura hissed miserably.

"He hates because if he doesn't then he might love...and then he could lose them again." Naruto said, leaning his forehead against Sakura's. She closed her eyes.

"When did you get so smart?" She asked with a little smile, green eyes sparkling.

"I know Sasuke...and you. Believe it." He smirked.

"You know, I wouldn't mind knowing you a little better." She said with a shy smile.

"Hmmm, maybe you shouldn't have brought half the artisans of Konoha home then." Naruto replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Peh, you're such an ass." She pouted, but smiled with her eyes.

Sakura kissed him then, shamelessly, and Naruto felt his blood heat for her again. The girl was warm and soft in his arms, but Naruto held her as if she was a statue of spun glass. Not to be denied, Sakura gripped his hair and tugged him down to meet her more fully. She only pulled away when he began to quiver in her arms.

"Why don't you go out for a while? I'll get the rest of this sorted. It will be less crowded when you get back." Sakura promised.

"Um...okay." Naruto breathed, trying to clear his vision.

Sakura winked at him and moved into the main room to direct the workmen. Naruto released the breathe he had been holding and smiled. Somehow she had taken complete control of the Uchiha castle before it was even really suitable to live in. He wondered which of them, the pink haired beauty or the homicidal maniac, was really more dangerous.

OoOoOoO

"Take his eyes." The voice ordered dispassionately.

"The Hokage ordered that he not be mutilated irreparably..." The second voice might have been female, Sasuke wasn't sure.

"He does not need those eyes to breed the sharingan and his mutilation is necessary, he has not yet told us all. Saving his looks for the fox is not my main objective." The voice said, an edge to his words.

"He has revealed much already..." The woman hissed.

"He will reveal all and until he does I am at liberty to use what measures I choose. What? Sad to see such beauty marred?"

"To hell with his face! This will be the subordinate of the fox and I doubt he will be pleased if we deliver the Uchiha to him both blind and crippled. To anger a jinchuuriki is foolish!" She snarled, her tone tainted with fear.

"Not as foolish as leaving a murderer with such a powerful ability and besides...Hyuuga Hiashi wants the sharingan for his younger daughter. The Hyuuga clan leader will be generous to those who help him achieve his goals." The male voice chuckled conspiratorially.

Sasuke's already chilled blood seemed to still in his veins and his breath caught painfully against his broken ribs. The sharingan, the only remnant of his family, and they would cut it from his face and give it to Hiashi? Rage filled him, deep and hot, thawing his cramped muscles. Sasuke struggled hard as someone gripped his face, their steel gloves digging into his cheek bone. He tried to dislodge the hand, howling in frustration, but the cold steel against his eyelid barely even trembled.

"See if that fool demon wants you now..." The man chuckled cruelly.

"Don't you _touch_ me!" Sasuke hissed.

"Stop me then..." The man whispered. Oh, and he tried, but the hand was like iron.

"S...S...Stop! I'll tell you everything! Everything! Stop!" Sasuke rasped, his throat raw with screaming.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Sasuke recognized the voice of his torturer from before, the tired one. Light flooded the room, burning his eyes.

"I am taking the sharingan, there are those who have demanded his eyes..." The bastard holding his face said nonchalantly.

"That is the property of the Jinchuuriki Naruto Uzumaki, favorite of the hokage and son of Namikaze Minato whom you would mutilate. Tsunade will have your head if you insist on having his eyes." Then man said, his voice low and dangerous.

"He has not yet given us the requested information..."

"The..The last cache, it...it is hidden behind the waterfall on the north face of Kaze peak in fire country. Orochimaru's laboratories are hidden at the base of the peak, behind the magma dome. The heir of the Sound nation is being held in a secure room at the facility in the far west..." Sasuke blurted the information out into the darkness.

The words came as fast as his battered body could pull in air. He told them every detail, every word he could remember, anything he had ever seen in Orochimaru's installations. Sasuke spoke about his brother, about their duel, about Itachi's death and the members of Taka. He sobbingly confessed every move, every word, every thought he could bring to his lips, panicking whenever he had to pause to inhale, convinced that they would take his eyes. Sasuke held nothing back and did not stop until the light had long been removed and no one was listening any longer.

Tsunade watched as the dark haired youth lapsed into unconsciousness, slumped against the metal of the chair, eyes squinted tightly closed. It had taken more than a week, but the Uchiha had finally broken. In a shaking voice he confessed that he had never managed to hate Naruto...that he had never forgotten Sakura. If it hadn't been for the murders, the instability brought to Konoha by Sasuke's unchecked violence, she might have felt pity for him. She should thank the greedy ANBU interrogator who had thought to steal the sharingan for Hiashi, except she had already dismissed the man for disobeying her orders.

Hiashi, that bastard, was utterly shameless in his pursuit of power. Still, no matter the strength of Hiashi's daughters or the prestige of his clan, the old asshole would never be stronger than Naruto. Naruto's pack, with Sasuke in his thrall, would wholly be unstoppable and Hiashi already knew it. This little stunt had been less about obtaining sharingan eyes than it had been about disabling Sasuke to the point that the Uchiha would not survive his claiming by the Jinchuriki. Tsunade hated Sasuke, but she would not allow him to be damaged to the point that Naruto could no longer take him as his own. The little kitsune had been right about one thing, the power of the nine tails added to the sharingan would produce some of the most powerful ninja in existence.

It would seem that Hiashi thought of the mating as a threat and well he should. The Hyuuga still had no idea of the strength that Sakura brought to the combination, and though her family was new and untried, the Hokage knew Sakura's abilities to be considerable. Tsunade had no doubt that the newly re-forming Uzumaki clan would rise to the very highest echelons of influence in both Konoha and the world. This had been the first of many attempts to blunt Naruto's power and the hokage knew there would be more, many more. The quiet struggle for the rule of Konoha had already begun.

OoOoOoO

Naruto adjusted the seals on the outer perimeter of the garden wall surrounding the Uchiha main house. He had originally thought to secure the entire complex, but it was simply too vast for a single ninja to ward. The jinchuuriki squinted at the seal, searching the device for any kind of weakness or fallibility. The seals protecting his home had to be perfect, had to be impenetrable... Once the people within these walls had all been murdered, their blood soaking through the floors, part of the wood forever. Naruto could practically see the massacre every time he looked at the too-dark wood, could see the Uchihas awaking in confused terror, all of them killed except for one young child who was left behind to slowly drive himself insane. The sheer cruelty of it was staggering, how Sasuke could still love Itachi so deeply was beyond him, but then again Sasuke was a very damaged person.

Tsunade had called him a monster and perhaps it was true, but Naruto had held the burden of that title for so long that the word meant something different to him. There was something fitting about it, like he and Sasuke could never really belong with anyone else, because they were both monsters. Both hated and feared, except by Sakura, and she was something else entirely. Perhaps she was a monster too if she could love them so deeply despite the stigma, despite the fact that she could have anyone she wanted. The mere thought of some skulking assassin taking Sakura from him, invading Sasuke's home once again, brought him fury so deep that it bleached is vision . With a frustrated hiss, Naruto tore the seal away and began again.

Even though the autumn air was cool, his skin was hot, flushed and dry. The headache that had started as a mere annoyance earlier was slowly turning into an excruciating throbbing like a hammer driving nails into his skull. Naruto took a deep breath through his nose and started the protective seal again. Once all mirror seals surrounding the house were in place, he could connect them all and create a positive feedback loop to generate a powerful barrier. The wall of chakra would be a veritable fortress of energy and he planned to add guardian summons as well...

"_You cannot put it off any longer kit, at this rate the fever will render you unconscious. You have to rest..." _The kitsune whispered.

"Shut up. I have a mate." Naruto grumbled.

"_The heat isn't something I can just switch on and off like a light bulb! Regardless of our understanding, it will last either until you have mated or until the heat has run its course!" _

"How long will that be?" Naruto groaned.

"_A month...maybe more..." _

"What?"

"_Power has its price, kit. Until the fever passes you are simply not as strong as you normally would be and you _will_ have to rest!"_

"I...I can't be weak...not now. Have to protect them and I will! Believe it!"

"_They will protect you too, that is how the bonding works. Do not make yourself more of a liability to your female!" the fox huffed. _

"I thought females only respond to a show of strength?" Naruto sniped.

"_They do: So why don't you go into that big echoing house, grab the girl by the hair and fill the place with her pleasure cries..."_

"You really are disgusting."

"Naruto? Are you alright?" Tsunade's voice startled him so much that Naruto dropped the seal, which promptly exploded at his feet sending earth flying everywhere.

"Ahhh! Hi! Don't sneak up on people old lady!" Naruto yelped.

"Normally I don't think I would have been able too, even if I tried, and show some respect, dammit! What is going on, Naruto? You look terrible!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"Maybe I...uh...have been overdoing it lately..." the jinchuuriki shrugged.

"It's the heat, isn't it?" Tsunade crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, guess so." Naruto replied, his hand moving behind his head in characteristic embarrassment.

"ANBU is done with Sasuke and the hospital is cleaning him up, but when they are finished you can collect him."

"How...how is he?" Naruto asked. Tsunade sighed.

"He held out against the torture for a long time and I won't lie to you, he is pretty banged up. He wasn't in the best of health to begin with and so I think it best if you hold off the claiming until he has healed. At this point, I doubt he would survive it."

"Oh. Well I guess I figured as much. No need to rush anything." Naruto replied, though something inside his heart wilted in disappointment. He had hoped to bind Sasuke as soon as the Uchiha was released. He wanted to make Sasuke part of his family, foolish as it seemed, and never risk losing him again.

"Don't worry Naruto, he isn't going anywhere for a long time." Tsunade said with a gentle smile.

"Hn, good." Naruto smiled back.

"Come on, why don't I buy you some ramen while we wait? Sakura too." Tsunade said kindly. Naruto smiled wearily and followed her.

OoOoOoO

The walk from the hospital to the Uchiha estate seemed endless and it was only Sakura's soft steps behind him that kept Naruto from bolting the whole way. The hospital had worked on Sasuke's wounds late into the night and it was wholly dark by the time Naruto and Sakura could collect him. The waiting had made him edgy and nervous, terrified that Sasuke had been hurt too badly in interrogation, that he had managed to escape and that he was dying. Tsunade had stayed with them the whole time, but her presence was only a minor comfort. When they had finally been allowed to see him, Naruto was practically wearing a trough in the floor with his pacing. The Uchiha, to his great relief, had looked whole and recognizable as he slept in the narrow hospital bed. Maybe a little older, a little more muscular and covered in bruises, but it was still Sasuke.

Naruto breathed deeply, trying to calm his frantic heart beat. Sasuke was here, tight in his arms, safe. The only light came from the scattered shop lamps as Naruto walked through the silent streets of Konoha with his mate behind him and what had once been his best friend in his arms. The hour was late and even their near-silent steps echoed against the pavement. Sasuke moaned a little and weakly shifted against Naruto's chest, but he did not awaken.

Tsunade had given Sasuke a heavy sedative and the youth's consciousness had been patchy at best since the end of his interrogation. The once-Uchiha lay limply in Naruto's arms, dressed simply in a white cotton kimono that was only a shade more pale than his skin. Sasuke's face looked drawn and there were bruises on his left cheek, but his body was warm against Naruto's chest and his breathing was steady. The whole thing seemed surreal, almost like a dream, because it had been so long and because Sasuke so hated to be touched. How many times had Naruto craved the barest touch from his friend, some small physical indication that Sasuke liked him? Sasuke would have hated being held now as well, especially walking through Konoha as they were, in sight of anyone who cared to look. Regardless, Naruto held the other youth in his arms as one would a child, the raven head pillowed against his shoulder. The jinchuuriki appreciated the luxury he now had to touch Sasuke as much as he wanted weathering Uchiha's the haughty sneer. Sasuke's face was smooth as he slept and without the arrogant sneer, he really was just as beautiful as anyone Naruto had ever seen, except perhaps Sakura. The position allowed Naruto to gaze upon Sasuke at his leisure and he took the opportunity to study the older, more mature face of the youth who had once left them all behind.

Even in the sallow light of the late night lamps, Sasuke was lovely. His smooth skin was as pale as milk and the shadows accented the strong grace of his aristocratic nose. Every line of Sasuke was elegant: the edge of his jaw clean and straight, the dark lashes lying in an artist's dream of contrast against the pale planes of his high cheekbones, the firm muscles of his shoulders perfectly defined beneath Naruto's hand. It was no wonder that all the girls had swooned over him so. The crisp, wintery scent of Sasuke was all around him and Naruto took the luxury of burying his nose in the other youth's hair as he walked. Years had passed since he had smelled that smell, but his memory of it proved true.

Sakura stayed close but said nothing and Naruto sensed she was just as amazed as he was. She gazed upon Sasuke as well, but her gaze was hooded and her expression inscrutable. Soon, Naruto became aware that though Sakura was still looking, she could not see the man in his arms. They had moved out beyond Konoha proper and there were no more lamps, though Naruto didn't need them to see. Sakura gently gripped the edge of the Jinchuuriki's jacket, matching her steps to his so she wouldn't trip. There was no moon. They walked in the darkness guided only by Naruto's demon enhanced vision and their own memories. The sky was overcast and threatening rain and Sakura's smell was filled with both joy and agony. Naruto supposed that his was too.

"Ne, it's so dark..." Sasuke whimpered, only half conscious.

"I can see teme."

"Naruto? Naruto? Are we dead Naruto? Is it finally over? Is it over?" Sasuke sobbed, sounding relieved.

"No, we aren't dead..." Naruto replied. Sasuke moaned.

"We are...it's so dark..."

Suddenly, the Jinchuuriki perceived a light ahead of them and his pace quickened. The light was faint and he wondered for a moment if he had imagined it, but soon the tiny glow grew stronger. Through the trees the warm luminosity of lanterns could be seen winking like salvation itself through the gloom of the forest. The vast wall of the Uchiha estate rose before them, lit like some kind of holiday spectacular by golden lanterns hung along its edges.

"Sakura..." Naruto whispered.

"I...I wanted it to feel welcoming." The girl whispered beside him.

"It's amazing, thank you." Naruto said, choking back a sob and not entirely sure why. The world had just seemed so dark for so long and now...

Sasuke stared at the gate in a groggy sort of awe, mouth open like it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. As Sakura swung the outer door open and they walked into the courtyard, also beautifully lit by garden lamps along the path and hung among the trees, Sasuke began to sob. The main house, once so dark and foreboding was a beacon of gentle golden light and warm colors glowing from it's tall windows. The music of wind chimes tinkled from the eves and the scent of flowers was everywhere. Naruto felt almost like sobbing himself and only held his composure by the barest margin. Sasuke was crying like a child, one hand flung over his face.

"I...I...must be dead...oh thank Kami...I'm dead at last...Oh thank you...Naruto...Sakura...I'm sorry." The Uchiha sobbed and Sakura turned away to hide her wet eyes, not used to seeing Sasuke so unguarded.

"You're not dead teme, you're home. You're home." Naruto whispered and it was true. He was home, they all were.


	4. Chapter 4

_Ooooookay, so the emo fest got a little out of control in the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed anyway, I appreciate it so much! Powerful emotions can be a bit soggy, but in the next chapter they take on a bit of a different flavor i.e. hot and sometimes angry. Just wanted to say too that things get really hot and heavy in this chapter and will only become more so as the story progresses. If you can't handle a bit of rather rough homosexual petting, graphic heterosexual smut or semi noncon allusions (because Sasuke has the emotional intelligence of a developmentally delayed invertebrate), this is your very last chance to escape! If you are ready for the heat: sit back, enjoy and please review!_

Sasuke discovered slowly that he was awake, swimming through a deep muggy fog of confusion until he could think in straight lines, past the deep throbbing in his head. His limbs felt sore and heavy, but he could hear the soft tinkle of wind chimes and was aware that he was lying in a bed and no longer bound. There were voices audible, but they were muted as if coming through a wall. After waiting a few heartbeats to try and gauge how far away the people were, Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and winced at the harsh sunlight streaming into the room. It was the first light he remembered seeing in what seemed like years and his eyes were weak and sensitive with disuse. He remembered very little since the ANBU officer had tried to steal his sharingan, only pain, bits of moving in darkness and then coming home...None of it made any sense and from headache it was clear that they had drugged him.

Tentatively, the Uchiha opened his eyes to tiny slits and tried to study his surroundings. The room was incredibly familiar, but he could not say where he had seen it before. It was a room he knew very well, had been in many times before, but the angles were all wrong and the furniture did not make sense. His mind kept conjuring up a persistent association of this room with the color beige, but there was no beige anywhere in sight. Instead, Sasuke could see vibrant autumn orange curtains fluttering in front of an open sliding door and the pure white linens of his bed. The floor was dark polished wood and that irked him because he was positive it should have been pale tatami. In the corner, a large vase covered with an intricate blue design held several decorative oak branches made of copper burnished to look red, orange and dusky purple as well as several brilliant orange branches of silk maple leaves. The walls were hung with a few foreign tapestries, also orange, sporting tiny steel bells sewn into elaborate designs on their surfaces. Sasuke wasn't sure, but he thought they may have come from a country he had read about once, a place high in the mountains where everyone lived in pursuit of peace... The sunlight slanting against the cloth caught against the bells and made them glisten, almost like water droplets upon a poppy. The contrast of the bright orange piece against the warm creamy white of the wall was actually very beautiful.

"Yo." It was only through many years of training that Sasuke managed to avoid twitching at the sound of the voice, he knew that voice.

"Kakashi."

His once teacher sat, lounging shamelessly on a cushion (a darker shade of orange than the tapestry) on a large tatami mat in the far corner of the room, with the ever present _Icha Icha_ book firmly in hand. A little white pot of fragrant tea with a single cup sat on a bamboo platter beside him and the man looked as content as a butcher's cat lounging in the sun. Sasuke opened his eyes a little more and glared at his old sensei.

"How is that headache, Uzumaki-san? Tsunade's narcotics can be quite potent."

"Who in the hell are you talking to?" Sasuke growled, surprised by how sore his throat was.

"You. As of one week and five days you are the newest member of the Uzumaki clan and you life has been saved. Congratulations." Kakashi said with a yawn that was still completely obvious behind his mask.

"Tsunade must be sharing her narcotics to have you believe that her little proclamation actually means anything. Naruto is more of an idiot than I thought if he thinks..." Sasuke hissed, rising onto an elbow. The pain ricocheting down his arm almost made him reconsider the movement.

"In my experience, Naruto thinks very little, but his actions are always impressive. I think Tsunade's decision is quite a bit more final than you may think, after all don't you even know whose house this is?" Kakashi asked, his single eyebrow raised over the edge of his book.

Sasuke paused, trying to put all the pieces together. He had certainly never been in any place that had this much orange, but there was something about it. The scent for one thing, of the tea mixed with the fresh green scent of new tatami, was something that stirred a memory within him. Even if the floors were wrong and the furniture was all unfamiliar, the Uchiha was certain he had been here before...

Kakashi watched as the realization came to Sasuke, as the already porcelain face paled and the dark eyes widened in shock. For a genius, the youth could be amazingly stupid at times, especially when it came to anything having to do with his own feelings. Everyone had thought that Itachi had spared his brother that night, but they had been wrong. Perhaps the child had not been murdered that night, but the adult Sasuke was meant to become certainly had. Something in Sasuke had never grown up and his emotions were still those of a frightened child. Looking at the bitter, brilliant, dangerous man that Sasuke had become, Kakashi couldn't help feeling a pang of pain for the boy's mother. His own sharingan burned as it always did when some deeper feeling came to him and he could feel the wetness gathering behind his mask. The eye was more like it's original owner and had never obeyed Kakashi's steel control over his emotions, tearing whenever the emotion was too strong. Mikoto would have died all over again if she could have seen what became of her sons, but perhaps it wasn't too late, at least for Sasuke. Kakashi had practically given up on ever seeing him home and yet here he was, even mostly whole.

"Oh, Kami! Naruto! Where is he! What the FUCK have they done to my house!" Sasuke snarled. Suddenly the fact that he was currently lying in what had been his father's study was all too plain. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"More than you ever cared to. I think it looks rather lovely myself. If Sakura-chan is ever disabled in battle, she could always go into interior design." Kakashi said cheerfully.

"I HATE it! How dare they do this! How dare they..."

"What, fix and restore your home? How terrible of them. Besides, you don't hate it." Kakashi replied blandly

"Fuck you!" Sasuke snarled.

"What do you hate so desperately about it anyway? The fact that is isn't a forgotten tomb anymore?" Kakashi said, closing his book.

"What! Forgotten! No one ever forgot!"

"Your family certainly wouldn't know that. It isn't like you ever came back, ever lit incense for them here, ever cared for their home or belongings. You have been so obsessed with your vengeance that you forgot about the spirits wronged in the first place." Kakashi said coldly.

"How dare you! You don't know anything! My family's spirits aren't any of your damn business!"

"Naruto didn't forget. His incense is burning in your family's shrine as we speak."

"Peh, Naruto's just afraid of ghosts." Sasuke snarled.

"Maybe, though he has offended them far less than you have."

"Liar! I'll kill you myself!" Sasuke shrieked, the anger propelling him into a sitting position.

"You honestly think your mother would have wanted you to become a criminal? To go about murdering people on the words of your brother alone? I ask you this, Sasuke, if things were all as clear as Itachi said, then why didn't he take you with him? Why leave you here among the people who coerced him into killing everyone else? Why would he do that, if he loved you?"

"Quiet! You are talking about things you could never understand!"

"Do you understand? Please enlighten me. Why not take vengeance himself? Why leave you, a terrified child, to do it by yourself? How cowardly." Kakashi pushed.

"Shut up!" Sasuke screamed and forced himself onto his knees, pain forgotten.

"Would your mother, who loved you, have wanted you to devote yourself to the destruction of the only people left who care about you? Would your brother, if he really loved you, have told you to kill your friends? Why, if he cared for peace so much, would he have sent you to make war on us?"

"Stop it! You're a dead man!" Sasuke shrieked, climbing awkwardly to his feet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

"What? Scared?" Sasuke taunted and made to step forward. Kakashi sipped his tea.

His body moved but his left leg was somehow not _there, _totally removed from the rest of the action. It was like his leg belonged to someone else, he could feel sensation in his toes, but there was no connection to the rest of his body! With a startled yelp, Sasuke toppled forward, falling squarely on his face against the bedding of the futon. Kakashi clucked his tongue.

"Told you."

"W...W...What have you _done_ to me!" Sasuke gasped, trying to raise himself off the floor.

"The hokage felt it would be best if you not go traipsing about to murder anyone else, so she cut the chakra lines in your left knee. You have lost all proprioception below the break, that's is why you can no longer simply 'know' where your leg is in space. Funny the things we take for granted, eh? Makes being an effective murderer much more difficult...Want some tea?" Kakashi explained, gesturing to the pot.

"No! Ahhh!" Sasuke struck his fists against the bedding in frustration.

"Pity, it's very good tea..."

"How...How can you go along with all this?" Sasuke asked, incredulous.

"Oh, is it really so surprising that I would go along with something that saved your life? I never hated YOU after all. Why would I go along with a plan to restore my friend's ancestral home, save the life of my wayward student, stop the murders of my leaders and even give Naruto the means to satisfy his heat? My, why would I do that?" Kakashi wondered sarcastically.

"How dare you! You're next old man! I WILL kill you! You and that blonde bastard both!" Sasuke snarled.

"Yes, and Sakura too right? You will kill us all, and Tsunade and the rest of the council and all of the other ninja in Konoha. Kill everyone. Kill every person who ever knew you, right Sasuke? Why not go ahead and kill all the civilians too, all the animals, burn us off the map and then what? Who are you going to kill then?" Kakashi snapped.

"I...I..." Sasuke fumbled. His head really hurt.

"Who? Yourself? Or maybe you will just move on to the next place and kill everyone there too!" Kakashi was shouting now.

"Shut up! Get out!"

"Ah, ah, ah. The master of THIS house is quite content for me to stay and so I am not going anywhere. As a murderer, you have very few rights." Kakashi said coldly.

"Fuck you! They deserved it!" Sasuke shrieked.

"Maybe. Does Naruto deserve it? Does Sakura? All for the terrible crime of loving you, for daring to become a part of your life? What happens then Sasuke, after everyone is dead and you are alone?"

"I...I don't know." Sasuke admitted quietly. Kakashi took a deep breath.

"They aren't going to forgive you forever. Soon they will give up and you will finally have what you wanted." Kakashi whispered.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

"Naruto and Sakura. Soon you are going to push beyond Naruto's abilities to forgive. He loves you, but he loves Konoha more and one day you will push too far and he will kill you. He won't want to, but he will, because the lives in this village are more precious to him than your campaign of hatred."

"As if that Dobe could..."

"He can. He will if you don't come to your senses and realize that you are trampling on something precious. You haven't fought him in a long time Sasuke, but you will soon see how strong he has become." Kakashi said and he was totally serious, "As for Sakura, you take her love for granted, abusing her feelings because you can. Her love frightens you because you can't hide from it, the feeling is there every time you see her."

"I am not afraid of anything!" Sasuke hissed. Kakashi ignored him.

"That will change, Sasuke. Sakura is no longer the love struck little girl who was obsessed with you long ago. You think that eventually she will grow to hate you, that she will try to stop you and then you can kill her without compromising yourself, but that is not how it works. You are going to wake up one day and discover that she doesn't love you, but more than that, that she simply doesn't _care_. One day you are going to look into her eyes and see _nothing_. No love, no anger, no hate, not even pity. You will have become dead to her, nothing, a mistake she made in the past. She won't chase you anymore, Sasuke, she will forget about you and when Naruto kills you she won't even cry..."

"I don't care..."

"Liar. It hurts, doesn't it? Thinking about what a dark road you have set out for yourself. Would it be as easy to kill her if she doesn't even care that you exist? And when you finally force Naruto to come for you, to take your life, will you be prepared to look into his eyes and see only pity? Think about it. It doesn't have to be this way." Kakashi whispered urgently.

"Oh, no. It doesn't have to be this way. Afterall, we can all just _choose_ to live in ignorance. We can all just live happily ever after, is that it? Just forget about Itachi, about my family and go on with life?" Sasuke snapped bitterly.

"Don't you think that is what they would have wanted? Why is it so hard to honor their spirits and live for yourself for once?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke didn't answer him, he didn't know what to say. In all honesty, the Uchiha had never really thought about the long term consequences of his crusade. He had told himself that the future didn't matter, that it didn't matter what happened to him as long as his family was avenged. Sasuke had always thought that, somewhere along the way, someone would take his life and spare him having to see the dark future Kakashi predicted for him. Still, he had never taken the time to really think about what would happen if he _lived_. What if it was like what Kakashi had said? No glorious death. Waking one day to find that everyone who mattered was gone and that he had been left behind, alone with his actions What _would _he do and if Naruto could really kill him, how would it feel? Could he handle watching his friend finally give up on him and put him down as he would some rabid animal? Anyone else was simply convenience, but Naruto... Then there was Sakura and a long life of watching her grow numb, watching her slowly forget about him. None of it was what he had expected, he had never taken the time to expect much of anything.

"Well, I must be going." Kakashi said with a cheery smile as he rose from his cushion.

The sliding door moved and suddenly Sakura was standing in the portal, a steaming plate of food in her hands. Sasuke dropped his eyes. It was a bit of weakness, but he wasn't sure he wanted to see her face and what emotion, if any, lay there. By Kami, it had been so long.

"Kakashi sensei, leaving already?" Her voice was disappointed.

"Afraid so. Thank you for the tea." Kakashi replied politely.

"Of course!" Sakura said with a quick bow.

Sasuke watched Kakashi's feet leave, trying to compose himself. Sakura closed the door behind their sensei and turned to Sasuke. The other youth finally raised his gaze, somehow expecting rather wet looking green eyes to greet him from above. Sakura had matured into a great beauty and Sasuke could not help the little thrill of fire that ran through him as he looked at her. Her glistening pink hair had been tied into a high tail that showed off the shapely column of her throat and her long legs looked smooth and muscular. Sasuke swallowed awkwardly as she bent to kneel before him. He looked then, into her eyes, to see the adoration that had always been there before. Something hot and terrible chased through her gaze for a moment and then her eyes were like frozen emeralds: cold, hard and remote.

"Eat." The girl said and left.

Sasuke released the breathe that he hadn't realized he was holding. His hands were shaking. His whole being felt as if it were coming apart at the seams and all over the girl he had pushed away so many times. It was stupid. Weak. Kakashi was right and he had never even thought about it that way before. He was so stupid! Stupid to feel like this, to feel anything at all! Nonetheless, Sasuke DID feel. He felt like screaming and bit his lip so that the sound couldn't come out. He reached for the plate more for something to do with his hands than because he was hungry. He lifted the bamboo cover and sighed despite himself.

It was onigiri. She had made his favorite. Thank god.

OoOoOoO

Sasuke watched the wind blow through the trees outside, the warm autumn sunlight slanting into his room and making all the orange ornaments shine like flames. The garden outside the sliding door had been untended for more than an decade and grew in a wild frenzy of golds, oranges, green and reds. It was as if the world was competing with Sakura's decorating scheme for the more perfect worship of the fiery colors of fall. The wind was crisp, and Sasuke huddled under the blankets with his face turned towards the outside world, watching as falling leaves blew in onto his bed. His mother would have hated that, she always liked the house to be so clean... The wind chimes tinkled and despite the fact that he needed to be alert, that a ninja should always be alert, Sasuke fell asleep once again.

OoOoOoO

Sasuke awoke to find a hot supper left beside him and the leaves swept from the room. The door was closed and locked with a seal over the handle, apparently an extra precaution against his escape. Sasuke ate and listened to the silence of the house and tried to meditate. It didn't work.

OoOoOoO

Had his leg been more trustworthy, Sasuke might have paced. The rather benevolent neglect he was experiencing under Naruto and Sakura's care was slowly eroding his sanity and becoming a new form of torture to him. When he slept, he always woke to find hot food or fresh clothing or a basin of hot water for a bath, but neither Sakura nor Naruto had come to speak with him or even anywhere he could see them. It was like something from a fairy tale, a haunted castle where things appeared by magic and the master always absent. He had been here more than three days. Sasuke had entertained the idea of wandering about if his teammates insisted upon treating him so carelessly, ignoring him as if he wasn't any threat, but his wounds were severe and even kneeling easily exhausted him. He had thought about throwing one of the plates of food against the wall, but the Uchiha was reasonably sure that such action would only increase his isolation further, rather than provoking action from his wardens. Once an old woman had come to dress his wounds and change the linens of his bed, but she had said nothing and only smiled when he tried to ask her questions. Kakashi had not returned. The afternoon lasted forever and on the fourth day Sasuke dragged himself to the edge of the sliding door to watch the sunset over the high wall that lay beyond the wild tangle of foliage. Without really meaning to, the Uchiha fell asleep and only woke again when the moon was high and full in the sky and the lamps had been lit.

At first he thought it was the moonlight that had woke him, almost as bright as day, but as Sasuke sat entranced by the moon and his own thoughts he heard it...a sound. After so many days of relative silence, the small human noise made his heart skip a beat. It was a sound and not just _any_ sound either, but a deep throaty groan heavy with lust, barely audible in the night. Sasuke licked his suddenly dry lips and listened for what seemed like an eternity. The heavy noise didn't come again, but there was a high pitched sigh, a sound like he had never heard before. The noise spoke of both desire and frustration, almost keening, but muffled too. That noise, that tiny noise which he had to strain to even hear at all, seemed to light his blood on fire. There was then a chuckle, low and hungry, and Sasuke almost moaned himself to hear it. Cheeks flushed and panting with a terrible feeling that was so deep and so hot that it threatened to stop his heart, Sasuke sat up and listened. An eternity passed and then the sigh came again, high and female, luscious in a way that made him tremble.

The Uchiha tried to meditate, block out the terrifying and wonderful noises, but his heart was racing and he found himself hanging on every breath to hear more. Sasuke stood shakily, using the wall as a crutch, and moved to the interior door. It was locked, but not securely and after several frustrated moments of fumbling he managed to force the mechanism. The click of it sounded thunderous in his ears, but not so resonant as the ecstatic cry that rang through the hall as he slid it open. His legs trembled with the effort of standing and Sasuke allowed himself to sink to his knees, biting his hand to avoid crying out himself as a deep snarl echoed through the house. Oh Kami, could they be...?

Instead of finishing the thought, Sasuke crawled down the hall following he hungry noises that seemed to drive all sanity from his mind. He crawled for a long time, his wounds screaming for rest, but the powerful sounds after so much silence pulled him like a magnet through the darkened halls of his childhood home. Suddenly there was a light, faint and silver, and for a moment it confused Sasuke's addled senses. It was only after an awkward moment of blinking that he was able to make out the light as moonlight...moonlight streaming down onto a writhing couple on the floor of the room a few feet to his left.

He could see Sakura's long hair pooled on the floor as she bent to ravish Naruto's chest and the Jinchuuriki's powerful shoulders flexing as he held her. Her breasts were pale and naked in the moonlight as she straddled Naruto, her back a tantalizing curve beneath Naruto's powerful hands. Sasuke bit his lip, shocked and fascinated at the same time. He was hidden in the shadow cast by the sharp corner of the hallway, but it would not have mattered anyway. The two were wholly absorbed in each other and wouldn't have noticed even if he had slipped into the bed beside them. A deep pang of cold jealousy speared through his chest, though he could not say whether it was for Sakura or Naruto. Perhaps it was only because they were kissing and touching each other while he sat alone in the shadows, forgotten...

Naruto surged up beneath her, all taught muscles and glowing eyes, his clawed hands gripping her powerful hips. Sakura made a small noise of surprise and moved her hand to cup his erection through the clinging material of his cotton pants, squeezing and sending shudders through Naruto's body. The girl wore nothing, her body a glistening landscape of silver curves as she crouched over Naruto like a tigress over some hapless prey. Still, there was nothing in Naruto, neither his position nor his movements, that suggested submission. Rather, his body spoke of frustration and need. She bit him deeply on the powerful arc of his left pectoral and Naruto made a deep thrumming sound that seemed to resonate in Sasuke's skull. The Jinchuuriki was practically purring as he cupped the soft flesh of her breast and thrust against her hand. The girl was panting, her hands everywhere on his body, her knee hard between the jinchuuriki's legs, moving against him in long, arduous undulations. Sasuke felt as if his blood had grown molten in his veins, so hot that it burned all conscious thought from his mind. Naruto's shoulders bunched and released deliciously as he moved beneath her, golden flesh made pale in the moonlight and yellow hair casting shadows against Sakura's breasts. Truly, it was the most beautiful thing Sasuke had ever seen.

He was holding back, Sasuke could see that the jinchuuriki was trembling with the effort of it. Naruto snarled, throwing his head back against the tatami, eyes closed tight in both ecstasy and pain, as Sakura stroked his throat with her tongue. Sasuke was so hard that he ached, watching her lap and kiss Naruto's quivering throat. He could see Naruto's control slipping, the other youth's hands digging gauges in the bedding as she pressed her breasts against his chest. Her nipples looked as soft as velvet and Sasuke trembled imagining what they would feel like against the fevered flesh. Naruto's whisker marks looked longer and deeper than Sasuke remembered and as the youth's mouth fell open in a hungry moan, sharp canine teeth drew long shadows against the wall. Sakura pushed her tongue into his mouth and Sasuke bit hard into his hand not to moan as Naruto's hand moved between her straining thighs. Sakura gasped and rode Naruto's fingers, her emerald eyes wide in the moonlight and the scent of her arousal heavy in the air. Naruto stroked her, thumb working into her center as the Jinchuuriki tried to calm his trembling flesh.

There was something terrifying in Naruto's struggle, fear in his eyes along with the heat even as the girl arched her back and came against his hand. Eyes wide and glowing in the darkness, Naruto brought his glistening fingers to his lips and licked. His canine teeth were too long and his tongue too dextrous as the jinchuuriki lapped at Sakura's essence, the quiver of his body setting Sasuke's teeth on edge. Sakura looked at Naruto then, her eyes steady and fascinated. Sasuke watched in helpless awe as she took Naruto's hand and sucked his fingers into her mouth.

"S...Stop..." Naruto warned, grimacing.

The girl ignored him, her gaze hot and determined as she let her tongue move against his palm. Naruto was gasping, a fine sheen of sweat over his chest as Sakura writhed against him, her mouth on his hand, his wrist, against the muscular arch of his thumb. It was too much! Sasuke groaned under his breath and almost came with only the thought of what it would feel like to be beneath her, or on top of him or _between_ them scalding his mind. Naruto grit his teeth, but as she reached for him again Sasuke knew that it was too late...

In a movement too fast to really see, Naruto had flipped her beneath him and his hand was tangled in her hair. The air thumped out of Sakura's lungs and Naruto snarled loudly against her throat, holding her down roughly. His fingers were tipped with wicked claws that drew thin lines of blood from Sakura's hips and his fangs hovered a breathe from her exposed throat. Naruto's body spoke of aggression as he ground hard against Sakura's sex, his fangs sharp and wicked in the pale light. Unable to really comprehend what he was seeing, Sasuke activated his sharingan more through reflex than true intent and was bombarded by the intensity of the scarlet chakra flooding the room. Crimson light seemed to burn his sharingan eyes and he cried out only to see Naruto's eyes, glowing like infernal coals, shift their focus to him. Blood welled from his eyes as the Uchiha lost control and the sharingan burned through his meager chakra reserve. The scarlet beast made a hungry rumble that seemed to vibrate into Sasuke's bones and left Sakura to stalk towards him, it's movements sinuous and filled with purpose. Sasuke shut his eyes, forcing the sharingan off through sheer will alone, the pain in his eyes terrible as hot breath ghosted over his cheek.

With a sound somewhere between a hiss and a whimper, the Uchiha opened his eyes to see Naruto crouched a breath from his face. His teammate's eye were red with demon chakra and his pointy smile was both possessive and seductive at the same time. Sasuke trembled as Naruto cupped his cheek, his long claws cool against Sasuke's face. Sasuke fought him, but trying to move that hand was like trying to dislodge hot granite.

"Careful teme, you aren't strong enough yet. Don't tempt me..." Naruto whispered, his voice resonant and close, red eyes foggy with desire.

"What?" Sasuke breathed.

Naruto said nothing, but moved his tongue over Sasuke's face, lapping the blood still oozing from the sharingan. The tongue was rough and velvety, stimulating against his quivering flesh. Sasuke tried to be angry, to pull away, but his foolish body wouldn't cooperate and instead he groaned softly against Naruto's palm. The Jinchuuriki washed him like a large cat does its kitten, before slowly pulling away. His eyes miraculously blue once again, Naruto retreated and returned to Sakura. Sasuke met the intent blue gaze once more, along with Sakura's fierce green eyes, before Naruto slid the door shut and he was left in darkness once again.


	5. Chapter 5

_So, there seems to be some confusion about certain aspects of this story that I would like to take a moment to clear up. First, I must reiterate that this is a threesome story in which Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto become part of a shared relationship. I listed it under the Naruto/Sasuke heading because that is the main conflict of the plot. Sorry if this caused any confusion, but does not have a way to list threesome stories as such. Also, because this will eventually end in a three-way romance, it is NOT a harem fic as they are usually understood. Whether I write a sequel introducing another character into the mix depends on the response this story receives, the general opinion of the readers at the end of this tale and also how inspired I am to delve into that new complication. Those who are worried about this turning into a foursome are safe, there is more than enough drama between these three for now. Also, in response to Shane, it may seem as though I am needlessly torturing a much beloved character, i.e. Sasuke, but that is not the case. The important thing to understand in all of this is that Sasuke is unhappy because of Sasuke, not because of Konoha or Naruto or anyone else. It is Sasuke's actions that have landed him into this mess and he isn't out of the woods yet. My interpretation of Sasuke is that of a very confused young man who has turned to violence in desperation to quell the hurt within his spirit, but hatred only begets more pain and that is the lesson he is currently struggling with. This WILL have a happy ending! Promise! _

_With that out of the way, thank you so very very very very much to everyone who reviewed! Stormingnight, your reaction to each chapter is greatly appreciated as always and I SO appreciated receiving the feedback from everyone who took the time to write! It really makes my whole month you guys, thank you so much. As always your thoughts are greatly anticipated! This story continues because of you and without further adieu, please enjoy! _

The night was dark and murky with fog as the cloaked figure crept from roof top to wall without so much as a whisper in the mist of his passing. There was only the barest sliver of moon, too weak to pierce the heavy clouds that hung over Konoha like an omen. The night was perfect for keeping secrets and, though doing so sometimes made him sick, Hiashi would keep his. Secrets were precious things, treasures that gave their keepers much power and so the head of the Hyuuga clan crept through the hidden village of the Leaf on dark business. He would not let his position in Konoha slip, especially not to a bastard child of a foreign whore. Hinata claimed that Naruto was powerful and pure of spirit, but his noble daughter was too kind hearted and that was her greatest failing. Kindness, if not tempered by discipline, was only a more attractive form of weakness. Hinata, as brilliant and powerful as she was, might never make an effective heir if she remained so easily swayed by her heart. He had hoped that she would grow more ruthless with age, but had thus far been sorely disappointed. His younger daughter, Hanabi, would make a better Hyuuga queen. Even as young as she was, the girl had a talent for cruelty and sometimes cruelty was necessary, a virtue even...

Hiashi finally arrived at the Valley of the End, checking once with the byakugan for any other nearby chakra signatures before ducking into the shadow behind one of the colossi. It was here that he had been told the other would wait and he was not disappointed. The man was nearly invisible, even with the byakugan, but Hiashi could almost swear that he didn't need it to see him. Even being in the same room as Madara made his skin crawl. The Uchiha wasn't even a man anymore, but some ancient, perverted _mistake_ so disgusting that even the earth rejected his corpse. Hiashi curled his lip in distaste.

"Hello my old enemy, I had almost worried that you might have forgotten your feelings towards me." The voice mocked, arrogantly.

"Never. Still there is another problem more pressing." Hiashi replied.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Madara replied, moving from the shadows until his spiral mask was visible.

"Naruto is also your enemy then?" Hiashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yes, yes indeed. You see...he has taken something of mine and I will have it returned. Now he would take something else from me and that cannot be allowed." Madara explained cheerfully.

"You are referring to Sasuke. What is your interest in him?" Hiashi asked, faintly sickened.

"He belongs to me to use as I see fit and I won't have another steal him. He is mine by blood and my favorite weapon. Much as Neji is yours. As for Kyuubi, it will be mine once again as well. I don't just go about losing my things." Madara promised.

"I LOVE Neji, he isn't a weapon! Though I imagine it is something _you_ could never understand!" Hiashi hissed, enraged.

"We ninja all love our weapons, don't we?" Madara chuckled.

"Enough. Take the little Uchiha bitch back with you, I don't care. My only condition is that you eliminate Naruto while you are at it."

"Easy enough, but why so concerned Hiashi? What frightens you so that you would rather bargain with me than see the Uzumaki clan rise?" Madara asked, cocking his awful mask.

"Fear has nothing to do with it!"

"Right." Hiashi twitched at the insult.

"Naruto Uzumaki is doing what all the damn jinchuuriki eventually do , building a pack, and it just so happens to include your 'weapon' amongst its whores. Kyuubi's chakra combined with the sharingan...such power could elevate the brat above the Konoha nobility to say nothing of his offspring. His children will be some of the most powerful ninja in the world, even with that common girl, Haruno, as their dame. I will not hand over Leaf's rule to a foreign power, much less one composed of demonic abominations!" Hiashi hissed.

"Ah, I see. So this is about his mother, isn't it?" Madara asked smugly.

"Kushina Uzumaki had no place in Konoha and I'll die before seeing her bastard son sitting on our throne." Hiashi growled.

"So it's a simple matter of blood, nothing more?"

"Blood is all there is." Hiashi replied, his conviction obvious.

"True, though thrones are a bit melodramatic, don't you think? Afterall, I thought that Konoha was largely ruled as a democracy. Regardless, Naruto's father was a member of Leaf, was he not?"

"Namikaze was a brilliant ninja, but he came from nothing. He was an anomaly, a clan-less aberration gifted through mere chance. It was only through his marriage to that jinchuuriki that he was elevated to Hokage. The boy is of dirty blood either way, as common as Minato and twice as dangerous." Hiashi growled.

"You underestimate him." Madara whispered, his tone almost nostalgic.

"He is dead and I am not."

"He was braver than you are." Madara shot back.

"Watch your tongue!" Hiashi snapped. Madara ignored him.

"I can eliminate your upstart oni clan, but I will have one request..."

"You are getting Sasuke and the nine tails, what the hell else could you want?" Hiashi huffed.

"Those things are both mine anyway and my work isn't cheap, Hyuuga. I would know something: Kushina...why do you hate her so much?" Madara asked, his tone almost gleeful.

"It isn't relevant."

"I would know. I can kill the jinchuuriki anytime and Sasuke will always return to me, I have no need to deal with them now..." Madara shrugged, his threat clear.

"You ask strange favors."

"Humor me."

"The past doesn't matter anyway and if it interests your perverse mind so much...Kushina rejected me. She threw my heart away in favor of Minato, an orphan, who could offer her nothing. I, the head of my clan, and she chooses some nameless ANBU officer instead. That kind of...foolishness...sickens me." Hiashi explained, schooling his face to stillness.

"Hmmm, foolish indeed." Madara replied and Hiashi had the distinct impression that the other man was insulting him again.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Yes. Expect the attack soon." Madara promised.

"The jinchuuriki has erected powerful wards..." Hiashi cautioned.

"Yes, the little fool. He wards _my_ home after all and his wards have all been trained to recognize and allow Uchiha blood. The place is designed to keep Sasuke in, not to keep an Uchiha out. He is practically defenseless against me and ignorant of the risk to boot, it's almost too easy..." Madara laughed and a shiver crawled up Hiashi's spine at the sound.

"Why should he ward against Uchiha chakra? He believes that Sasuke is the last."

"Won't he be surprised?" Madara laughed, the sound setting Hiashi's teeth on edge.

He laughed and laughed, roaring with glee like a madman in the darkness and Hiashi knew the sound would haunt his nightmares. It was a small price to pay in order to secure Konoha for his daughters, all power had a price.

OoOoOoO

Sasuke had no idea how long he had lain staring at the sunlight making patterns on the ceiling, but it had been long enough for the light to move from one corner of the windows to the other. He had left the sliding doors open again and was slightly chilly, but not uncomfortable enough to move. Despite his stillness and the soothing tinkling of Sakura's wind chimes, the Uchiha was terrifyingly close to panic. His foundation, the tower of rage upon which he had built his life, was crumbling and there seemed to be nothing he could do to save it. The pain, the anger, the hate he had cultivated like a festering sore in his soul had been numbed, leaving him feeling empty and cold. Every time he tried to call forth the terrible rage which had fueled his every action since he could remember, all that surfaced within his heart was a deep, howling loneliness.

Damn Kakashi! The old pervert was a fool, but somehow he had forced Sasuke to doubt himself, to wonder if the path he had been following was truly what his family would have wanted. The problem was that he wasn't sure what was real anymore, his memories were colored with so much pain that it was hard to know if his much cherished vengeance had been for his clan or only for himself.

The only thing that seemed real was the heat in Naruto's eyes and the fact that Sakura still loved him...things he shouldn't care about anyway. Yet, when he closed his eyes it was not Itachi or his clan that he saw, but Sakura's moonlit beauty and Naruto's scarlet chakra... The memory was like fire in his veins, driving out the cold and he was weak enough to welcome it.

Love, his greatest enemy. The emotion was a dangerous form of weakness and it had only brought him pain, but it was also incredibly difficult to escape. The thought that Sakura might have finally stopped loving him had been like a frozen dagger in his stomach and Sasuke had not realized that he cared that much. If he cared so deeply, then all the years of asceticism and violence hadn't actually accomplished anything and he was still as weak as he had been when he was a child. So many years and so much pain, all torn away by the simple realization that the stubborn little flame had never been snuffed out to begin with. Sasuke was too confused to actually think it, to make sense of the storm in his mind, but what if, _what if _he was in love? What if he had never stopped being in love? What if killing his old team mates failed to free him from the love? What would he have done if their deaths had changed _nothing_? He lay paralyzed by the awful possibility, unsure what to do and so the last of the Uchiha clan lay in the sunlight and did nothing.

"Sasuke? Are you awake?" Naruto's voice sounded deeper than it had before. Kami, had it been so long?

"Hai." Sasuke managed.

"Are you in pain? I brought some more medicine if you want it." Naruto closed the door and came to sit beside the futon, the heat of his body palpable in the very air.

Sasuke closed his eyes. He couldn't look at the idiot, not now, not when all he could think about was how amazingly blue his eyes were...

"I figured you would probably prefer to be alone. I'll leave the medicine here if you want it." Naruto sighed, sounding sheepish. Sasuke fought with himself, but after so many days of solitude he did not really want to be left alone.

"Idiot." The Uchiha spat.

"Shuddup! I'm not the one who went totally nuts and started killing everyone!" Naruto shouted back, falling easily back into their old pattern.

"Baka, you actually think that you can keep me prisoner here?" Sasuke taunted.

"The door _is_ open, teme. What's been keeping you?" Naruto replied, gesturing to the open sliding door and the garden beyond.

"Maybe the fact that you and that _hag_ decided to destroy my left leg!" Sasuke, snarled truly angry now.

"That wasn't _my_ idea!"

"You certainly didn't do anything to prevent it!"

"What was I supposed to do? Huh?"

"I don't know, _say_ something maybe?" Sasuke hissed sarcastically.

"Oh, like what bastard? I could have just said, 'Hey old Lady, please don't wreck Sasuke's leg cuz that will make it harder for him to escape and cause more destruction'? Yeah, that would have worked..." Naruto argued.

"You shouldn't have even been there in the first place! It wasn't any of your damn business, dobe!" Sasuke shouted.

"Fine! Next time I WILL just leave you to die! Baka!"

"Dobe!"

"Teme!"

"Idiot!"

"Moron!"

"You are the dumbest human being alive! You thought it would be better for me to come and be your damn love slave? Yeah, good thinking dobe." Sasuke snarled.

Naruto flushed, embarrassed and angry too. He was still uncomfortable with the situation as well, but he really hadn't felt as though he had any choice.

"Baka, you didn't seem to mind all that much last night..." Naruto sniped.

"I was in shock because you _licked _me!"

"I am the only one who _would_, believe it!"

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean!" Sasuke snarled, sitting up.

"No one, except for me, would ever want to marry a homicidal maniac, which is exactly what you have become, you know!"

"We _aren't _married idiot! I would never marry _you_! The only crazy person in this room is you, dobe."

"Then you'd die a virgin! No one else would put up with your bullshit, much less that fact that you go around murdering people on the word of your psychotic older brother, whom _you, yourself_, killed! Did you even stop to think about the fact that the members of the council have _changed _in the ten years since your clan was massacred?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They are still part of the same problem." Sasuke growled.

"Is that what you tell yourself? You are even more of an idiot than I thought!" Naruto looked truly shocked.

"Shut up, dobe! You could never understand!"

"I understand perfectly! You don't know what to _do _with yourself if there isn't someone for you to exact vengeance against! You can't handle the fact that you could have been murdering _innocent _people!" Naruto accused.

"No one is innocent."

"That includes _you_, teme. That is why Tsunade wrecked your knee. You deserved it. Believe it." Naruto snarled, low and angry.

"Baka! You had no right to intrude!" Sasuke shouted.

"Do you want to die so much? Coward." Naruto spat.

"Fuck you! I'd rather die than be your whore!"

Naruto's stance changed, his body moving into a lower, more aggressive posture as a stillness came into his limbs. For a infinite moment the Jinchuuriki was silent, his blue eyes like flames. Sasuke scowled and forced himself to meet the furious gaze of his one-time friend.

"Not my whore?" Naruto whispered incredulously. Sasuke shrank back a bit at the heavy fury in the Jinchuuriki's words.

"What the hell _else_ would you call it?" Sasuke hissed.

"You have made yourself a whore long before now, so why not mine? You promised the gift of your body to Orochimaru in exchange for power. You would prostitute yourself to anyone you offers to make you stronger, wouldn't you! Why is this any different?" Naruto shouted. Sasuke was silent.

"Why now, when I offer you the considerable power of a jinchuuriki? Isn't that your usual price? Power? If you had only known, you would have crawled into my bed long ago!" Naruto snarled, his face a breath from Sasuke's own.

"It isn't that simple..."

"Yes it is." Naruto said and kissed him.


	6. Chapter 6

The kiss was much like the ones they had shared in the past, a bumping of lips and grinding of teeth, awkward and slippery. The only difference was that Naruto had meant it as a _kiss_, not merely an accidental bumping of faces and that, somehow, made all the difference. The kiss was a gesture of dominance, of ownership, and the audacity of it made Sasuke furious. After a breathless moment, he drew his lips back into a snarl, uttering a sound of warning. Naruto stubbornly pursued him, pressing his attack only to be bitten, hard. The blood ran freely, dripping down Naruto's chin to stain the white of Sasuke's kimono.

The jinchuuriki yelped in pain, but refused to release Sasuke's mouth, pressing the other youth back against the wall. They fought, snapping at each other like dogs, too angry to speak. Sasuke's knee found Naruto's belly and the other youth grunted, head butting the Uchiha in return. Naruto's hand managed to escape Sasuke's grip long enough to grip the back of his skull, tangling in his hair. Sasuke bit him again, but the Jinchuuriki held on, growling against his lips. Sasuke, blushing both in anger and embarrassment, moved to strike Naruto, but lost his balance and ended up toppling them both over onto the bed. Naruto stopped trying to kiss Sasuke in favor of punching him instead and received a shattering blow to his wrist for the trouble. The loud snapping of Naruto's ulna followed by the jinchuuriki's scream echoed through the house. By the time Sakura threw the door open, Naruto and Sasuke were fighting on relatively equal footing with Naruto's hand basically useless and Sasuke's left leg too uncoordinated to be a threat. The two young men grappled fiercely on the floor, grunting as they fought, too engrossed in the battle to notice the kunoichi.

"What the HELL is going on?" The girl shrieked.

"Nothing!" Naruto shouted, sitting up enough to spit blood from his mangled lip into Sasuke's face. The Uchiha responded by cuffing him hard across the face.

"STOP IT!" Sakura roared.

Sasuke shoved Naruto away with a huff, crossing his arms sullenly over his chest. Naruto grumbled, but moved away as well to sit against the wall hugging his knees. Sakura stormed into the room, her green eyes blazing with anger. Naruto dropped his eyes to contemplate the tatami and Sasuke soon joined him as the furious gaze of the kunoichi fell upon him in turn. Sakura crossed her arms, more to keep from striking them than anything else, and surveyed the chaos before her. Blood was smeared over both of their faces and still dripping from Naruto's mouth. Sasuke was sporting a new bruise on his face and Naruto was cradling his wrist gingerly, glaring at the floor like they would light it on fire. Each of them looked flushed and angry and Sakura did not miss it when Naruto rubbed covertly at his eyes.

"Morons! You honestly think that _this _is the way!" Sakura growled, the boys flinched.

"He kissed me." Sasuke mumbled.

"You were being a bastard." Naruto hissed.

"Shut UP!" Sakura shouted and again there was silence.

Naruto and Sasuke both stared woodenly at the floor, too angry to look at each other and neither willing to meet Sakura's eyes. The girl knelt in front of Naruto and gently took his wrist into her hands. It was obviously broken, but the jinchuuriki's powerful healing had already set the bones to re-knitting at an odd angle. Without a word, Sakura flicked her hands and re-broke the new bone, forcing the edges into the appropriate plane. Naruto screamed and Sakura noticed how Sasuke cringed at the sound. Idiots. Once Naruto's wrist was firmly set to heal straight, and the jinchuuriki no longer looked about to pass out from the pain, the girl moved to Sasuke. She laid her hands against his face and chest, healing the bumps and bruises already starting to swell with a rush of emerald chakra. She gripped Sasuke's face firmly, efficiently checking his lips for bites and healing the few she found. Naruto's remaining wounds healed as she worked on Sasuke. Both the men were silent. The wind chimes tinkled as

"You two are a mess." She sighed.

"Sorry." Naruto whispered.

"Is that for me or for Sasuke?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Both." The jinchuuriki whispered miserably.

Sasuke raised his head to look at Naruto, his expression both confused and a little shocked. Naruto was still staring at the floor, the tears in his eyes hidden by his hair. Sasuke felt something ugly turn over in his guts, a feeling almost like shame. Sakura met his eyes, but she didn't look angry anymore, just a little sad. With a sigh, the girl stood from her crouch and brushed her hand softly through Sasuke's hair. The Uchiha let himself be touched and said nothing.

"Get undressed." She said briskly.

Both ninja snapped their heads up to stare at her, mouths hanging open in mirrored expressions of shock. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You guys are filthy. You need a bath." Sakura explained.

"Oh." Sasuke breathed.

"Y...Y..You mean together?" Naruto stuttered.

"Pervert." Sasuke sniped.

"Yes. If you two can bite each other, you can clean each other up. Besides, Sasuke can barely walk and you _are_ both guys. Deal with it." Sakura said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"I'd rather drown myself in the pond than be alone with _him_." Sasuke spat arrogantly.

"Fine. That settles it. I'm coming too." Sakura said, leveling a glare at each of them in turn.

OoOoOoO

Naruto stripped his clothing off as Sakura fetched towels, the drying blood sticky against his skin. His wrist was still swollen and tender, making the buttons of his shirt tricky to undo. Sasuke was having a similar struggle with his hakama, trying to remove the pants without relying on his left leg to be where he thought it was. Naruto sighed in frustration. Sakura was right, they were a mess.

"Hey, teme, you need help?" Naruto asked quietly.

"No." Sasuke snapped. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Well..." Naruto took a breath, "I do. C...C..Can you do this?" Naruto asked.

It was risky, giving Sasuke any kind of opening. An admission of weakness usually only made Sasuke resentful and sometimes even angry, but Naruto was tired of the facade. He was _exhausted_ and sore and embarrassed already and his pride hadn't gotten them anywhere. Sasuke looked up, startled, from where he had been fumbling with the hakama ties. His dark eyes were round and uncertain for a moment before the Uchiha hid his face behind his ebony hair. Naruto sighed and turned away. At least Sasuke hadn't laughed. Sasuke hated him, he was the one too stupid to believe it...

As he turned back to the damn buttons, his hands were slapped aside. Sasuke knelt awkwardly above him, his graceful fingers undoing the buttons with ease despite the slight trembling of the Uchiha's hands. Naruto just sat there a moment, too shocked to move much less speak. Sasuke..._his_ Sasuke...king bastard of them all and he was helping him. It was a miracle.

"Thanks." Naruto grinned.

"Shut up."

The jinchuuriki sighed, same old bastard after all. Naruto reached with his good hand for the stubbornly twisted leg of the hakama pants, gently pulling the material until the garment became loose again. Sasuke finished with Naruto's shirt and slipped out of the pants, relieved that the garment was easier to escape. Both suddenly naked, the men turned away from each other, their blush hidden by the blood smeared over their faces. Naruto stood and offered a hand to Sasuke, who stared carefully at his left foot leg as he stood also. They shivered in the chilly air blowing in from the window.

Sakura didn't even knock before striding into the room wrapped in a towel, her long hair twisted up in a clip. Sasuke kept his composure, though his eyes widened and his face reddened suspiciously, but Naruto practically fell back onto the floor. Somehow seeing her in only a towel was more indecent than seeing her naked. Sakura blushed hotly, but kept her determination and proceeded to hand out towels. She supported Sasuke's left arm as he wrapped the towel about his waist, fumbling with it more than usual out of sheer nervousness. The Uchiha could barely remember the last time someone had touched him like this, on his skin, without any hint of violence. The intimacy of it made him shiver. Naruto managed to one-hand the towel enough to keep it on, but had to redo it three times before the damn thing settled onto his hips properly. Sakura took one look at it and shook her head.

The girl maneuvered herself between them, keeping Sasuke's arm resting against her shoulder and not trusting himself enough to let go, the Uchiha maintained the contact. Once close enough, Sakura freed her hands so she could re-tie Naruto's towel. By the time his girlfriend was done with the towel, Naruto was seeing stars from breathing too quickly. Sakura was still blushing, but she had worked with plenty of naked people in the hospital and so she tried to focus on the task at hand instead of the fact that it was Naruto and Sasuke's skin against her own. They were so close, the three of them, all touching and breathing in each others air. Sasuke met Naruto's eyes over her shoulder and looked more plainly terrified than the jinchuuriki had ever seen him before. Sakura bit her lip and turned carefully so that Naruto could come against Sasuke's other side. The Uchiha, lowered his face and swallowed. Sakura could feel him shaking where she braced up against his side.

"It's ok. It's ok." Sakura whispered as much for them as for herself. Naruto nodded a little to shakily.

"Come on, before we get cold. Bastard left the door open again." Naruto muttered. Sasuke glared at him, but there wasn't much force behind it.

"Yeah." Sakura agreed as she clumsily moved away to open the interior door.

Naruto held Sasuke tightly around the waist in case the other ninja's left leg gave out again. It was clear from the way Sasuke scowled at the appendage that he had no sense of where it should be. It felt weird, holding each other so close even though both of them were stilled caked with one another's blood. Naruto kept expecting Sasuke to shove him away, but apparently the threat of landing flat on his face kept the Uchiha firmly wrapped in Naruto's arm. Naruto wasn't sure if he should be grateful or worried and so he was a bit of both. The hallway to the bathroom suddenly seemed much longer than he remembered it being and Sasuke was still trembling slightly against him. Naruto took a deep breath and followed Sakura.

Sasuke could feel every one of Naruto's breaths against his own chest and he wondered if the idiot wasn't breathing too fast. It would be just like Naruto to hyperventilate and send both of them toppling. Sakura walked a little ahead of them, close enough to catch him if he fell and the gesture made his face hot with shame. He wasn't used to help at the best of times and this may have been the first time that he actually really needed it...the whole situation was humiliating. Never in his worst nightmares had he imagined that he would one day back practically carried naked down the hall of his childhood home by his ex-teammates. Still, he was relieved to be out of the room and up and almost walking. The fact that he was doing it using Naruto as a crutch was just incidental. Sasuke was glad at least that he had a good excuse to stare at his own leg instead of Sakura's or he would be breathing as fast as Naruto was.

Eventually they arrived at a large door towards the posterior of the building which led into a rather industrial looking bathroom, almost of the same sort as an athletic compound might have. There was a row of showers lining one wall along with benches and several large soaking tubs in a separate alcove on the other side. Risking a quick glance away from his leg, Sasuke looked around and tried to make sense of the place. Naruto seemed relatively at ease and Sakura was already gathering soap and shampoo so they had obviously come here intentionally, but something seemed out of place. Sasuke was confused, he was fairly certain that this was not _the_ bathing room though it did appear to be _a_ bathing room. The bathing room where he had washed as a child had been larger and more luxurious, less efficient. Naruto and Sakura had taken him to the servants bathing room instead of the family one on the other side of the mansion, which probably meant that they had no idea that the other one even existed. The Uchiha filed that little bit of information away in case it became useful later. At any rate, he was not willing to walk all the way to the other side of the house clutching the dobe for fear of landing on his face.

With a sigh, Sasuke shoved Naruto away and sat clumsily onto one of the benches, removing his towel as he went to fold it over his lap. Naruto warily sat beside him, rubbing his hands through his hair to hide his nervousness. Sakura brought over a basket of various soaps, shampoo and conditioner, which everyone looked at as though it contained venomous snakes. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on!" She said with a huff and removed her towel to hang it over one of the nearby hooks.

Both of the young men stared at her open mouthed, including Naruto who had already seen her naked, if not by the light of day. The looks on their faces was not something Sakura paused to interpret, not if she didn't want to loose her nerve. She was _proving_ something to them, showing them that it was okay to be a little vulnerable, gain some kind of trust. Still, it was hard and she had always been horribly self conscious about the way she looked. Even letting Naruto really look at her in the hospital had been hard, harder than proposing to hims which was totally ridiculous. The girl took a deep breathe. If she expected them to trust her, to trust each other, she just had to give them a token of her own trust first and if that meant a communal shower, well, so be it. After all, she was reasonably sure that left alone they would just start fighting again and she really didn't want to re-break any more of Naruto's bones. Sakura could feel the blush moving all the way down her chest and was sure that it was fully visible to everyone, but she had asked Naruto to marry her dammit! She wasn't going to be conquered by her own self-consciousness, not now, not when they needed her to be strong. Sakura told herself that they were staring, not because she was ugly, but just because they had never seen her be so bold. With what felt like an incredible effort, the girl turned to her fiance and his...well...Sasuke and turned on the water.

Sasuke knew that his mouth was hanging open, but the synapse which connected his brain with his jaw seemed to be malfunctioning. Not only was she the first woman he had _ever_ seen completely naked, but she was even more lovely than he remembered. True, the moonlight had been lovely against her skin, but the silver light had washed all the color from her hair and cheeks. Color, he decided, was a very powerful thing. Now, in the full lighting of the bath he could see the vibrant pink of her hair and how the soft curls of her pubis were several shades darker, almost cherry colored. She was a study of monochromatic variations of red, her lips petal pink and her nipples a rosy dusk. Her breasts were pale, the fairest shade of rose and bigger than he had thought. He had never noticed before how perfectly round her breasts were, spreading wide and full over the high curve of her pectoral muscles. As a ninja Sakura was called upon to maintain her physique and she managed a perfect combination of softness and tone. Her cheeks were a deeper hue with the blush that spread in a fetching stain all the way to her muscular belly. The only part of the girl not some kind of pink or red were her emerald green eyes...he had never noticed that before. The plain girl he had pushed away so many times now took his breathe away and Sasuke found himself staring, unable to stop.

"You are gorgeous." Naruto breathed as she sat beside him. Sakura smiled. Sasuke looked away, the muscles of his jaw working.

"How's your hand?" She asked a little sheepishly.

"Hurts. You might have warned me." He huffed.

"Sorry. I was mad."

"I could tell." Naruto replied, raising his eyebrow.

Sasuke felt as if he had been shut out, intruding on something that should have been private. Perhaps it was better though, for them to focus on each other and allow him to gather his wits. Sakura and Naruto were talking the way that lovers do and it left him feeling almost unwelcome, which was stupid because he shouldn't care either way. Sakura giggled a little and kissed Naruto's ear lobe, making the jinchuuriki smile. A bit of icy jealousy speared through Sasuke and he turned away. He reached for some sandalwood shampoo and began furiously washing Naruto's blood out of his hair, determined to be rid of any lasting residue of the dobe's angry kisses. He could feel a bruise that Sakura had missed on his skull and winced as his fingers brushed it a bit too roughly. Suddenly a smaller pair of hands joined his own, working the fragrant soap through his hair. Pleasure, deep and instinctual bubbled up within Sasuke at her touch and it took an effort of will to remain silent under her hands. The feel of her fingers against his scalp was amazing, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Surely once, when he was a child, someone must have washed his hair, but he couldn't remember how it had felt...certainly not as good as this. Rubbing gentle circles through his hair, Sakura erased all thoughts from his mind, leaving only warm bliss behind. Before he realized what he was doing, Sasuke was leaning into her touch, head resting against her belly. All too soon, her hands were gone and Sasuke was being gently rinsed with hot water. He tried to remember exactly what it was he had been unhappy about and only managed to think in lazy circles as he rinsed in the warm spray.

Sakura moved to Naruto, gently scrubbing the blood from his face with a soft cloth, kissing him once he was free of it. The jinchuuriki sighed as if in relief and gave into her kisses hungrily, even as he leaned against Sasuke. For once, the Uchiha felt no inclination whatsoever to move away. Naruto pulled her against him into his lap and proceeded to wash her hair. Sasuke noticed that Naruto was doing a rather terrible job of it, missing half the length of Sakura's glistening rose colored mane. Before he could really think about what he was doing or what it meant, Sasuke lowered himself to his knees and proceeded to wash the length of Sakura's hair. The girl sighed against Naruto's shoulder and something warm bloomed in Sasuke's chest. The feeling was terrifying and hot and he didn't want it to stop, ever.

The three of them took their time washing, talking without saying anything and it was...okay, despite what Sasuke had thought. The experience was comfortable despite the closeness, the intimacy...the truth was he tried not to think very much. The water was warm and there was warmth in his chest where there had only been icy nothing before and he didn't really know what to do so he washed and wondered if he was going crazy. Sakura knelt before Naruto, cleaning the dirt from beneath his nails with a sharpened wooden tool and Sasuke scrubbed Naruto's shoulders as the hot water pounded against the muscles of his neck. For a moment, he forgot everything except for Naruto's muscles against his hands and the sight of Sakura's breasts as she knelt under the spray.

"My hand is still killing me, you guys wanna soak some?" Naruto suggested.

Sakura looked up in surprise at his words after so much quiet, but smiled and nodded. Sasuke tried to clumsily stand and walk to the tubs, but he made it barely a step before Naruto's strong arm came beneath his own. Once steady, the two of them climbed into the tub and waited while Sakura pulled up her hair. Naruto looked over at Sasuke where the other man sat trembling with some unspoken emotion.

"You okay, teme?" Naruto asked.

"Fine. Idiot." He replied, the insult too soft to be convincing.

"You guys sure made a wreck of each other," Sakura chided as she stepped into the tub.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Naruto said, turning his face away.

"A kiss isn't a contest, you know, there isn't any winner. You aren't going to prove anything with a kiss other than the emotion behind it." Sakura explained, turning to smile a little at Naruto.

"I don't have much experience kissing and I'm pretty sure that was Sasuke's first real kiss." Naruto sighed.

"Was not!" Sasuke hissed.

"Well, not if you count that one time over the waterfall..." Naruto teased.

"_That_ doesn't count!"

"Does too."

"Does not."

"ANYWAY, you should start gentle." Sakura huffed, halting the argument before it went any further. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I _was_ gentle! He bit me first!" Naruto whined. Sasuke scowled at that.

"No, _gentle_, like this..." Sakura said, and brushed her lips over Naruto's as she cradled his face in her hands.

The kiss was slow, soft and almost tentative. At first a mere brushing of lips and then a mild press of flesh. The girl moved her thumbs over the muscles of his jaw, encouraging Naruto to relax, to open his mouth for her. After a few moments of gentle stroking the Jinchuuriki's jaw loosened and the girl dipped the tip of her tongue into his mouth. Sasuke watched, fascinated. Sakura pulled back and smiled at the blush spreading over Naruto's nose.

"See, _gentle_." She whispered.

Her point well made, Sakura turned to Sasuke and approached him as one would a startled animal. He shied away from her a bit, pressing his back against the rim of the tub. The girl paused a moment and slowed her movements. Sasuke's face was tense and wary, but Sakura only smiled at him a little, waited a few breaths and moved closer. Having run out of room to retreat unless he wanted to jump out of the tub, Sasuke stilled himself and watched her approach. At first Sakura only laid one of her hands against his face, letting him feel her skin and grow accustomed to her closeness. When he allowed the contact, she moved a little closer, resting the other hand against his neck. Naruto watched, afraid to breathe, afraid the fragile moment would shatter. Sakura rested there, watching the maelstrom of emotions cross through Sasuke's eyes. She stroked his cheek softly with her thumb, watching his eyes widen at the sensation. Slowly, tentatively, the girl moved her lips over the Uchiha's.

Barely a whisper of flesh against flesh, as light as a summer breeze and just as warm. Sasuke had never imagined that a simple touch could be so powerful and despite his pride, despite his hate, he found himself leaning towards her, chasing the warmth. Sakura cradled his neck, her fingers gently stroking the sensitive skin behind his left ear. Her thumb moved slowly against his cheek, gently rubbing against the tight muscle of his jaw. She coaxed him, her mouth yielding and her hands insistent, gently brushing her mouth against his own. After many moments of the fluttering kisses Sasuke relaxed and opened his mouth for her. Sakura drew his lower lip into her mouth, stroking him softly with her tongue. With a sigh of surrender and pleasure, he wrapped his arms around the girl, kissing her with clumsy abandon.

Naruto moved behind them, stroking the side of Sakura's left breast to make her shiver in Sasuke's arms. Softly, the jinchuuriki rested his hands against Sasuke's shoulders and waited. Sasuke opened his eyes, glancing at Naruto through the ebony curtain of his lashes. There was a flash of heat, a bit of anger, but Sakura was practically sitting in Sasuke's lap and he did not feel inclined to move her. The Uchiha glared, but allowed the touch, moaning into Sakura's mouth as the girl moved her hand to stroke the muscular planes of his chest. Naruto brushed his lips over the flushed skin of Sasuke's shoulder and was rewarded as the Uchiha sighed and trembled under his fingers. Sasuke's hands were on Sakura's hips, holding her against him beneath the water as Naruto brushed kisses over his shoulders and down his spine. The feeling was almost like channeling lightening: hot, quivering and on the knife's edge of control.

Naruto moved to kiss Sakura over Sasuke's shoulder just as the girl brushed the edges of her fingers over the inside of his thigh. Sasuke felt trapped between them, smoldering in the dual embrace. Sakura's breasts were soft and lovely against his chest and Naruto's mouth had grown bolder, the jinchuuriki's tongue flicking against the back of his neck. He sat in the arms of his greatest enemy, holding the girl he had sworn not to love, moaning for them both and helpless to stop. Sakura was kissing his throat and Naruto's arm had come around them both. He could feel the hard muscles of Naruto's chest against his back, the warm slosh of the water as they writhed against each other. Sakura's clever hands found the hardening shaft of his erection and the erotic fire sparked by her touch turned his thoughts to burning white nothing.

Naruto was moaning softly in his ear, the sound almost like purring. Sasuke's head fell back against the jinchuuriki's muscular shoulder, his mouth open in a silent exclamation as Sakura coaxed his body into the most intense orgasm he had ever experienced. She was still rubbing, milking the sensitive flesh when Sasuke found that he could breathe again. Naruto's calloused hand was against his jaw, rubbing, and Sakura was stroking him beneath the water and the world was nothing but heat and skin. The jinchuuriki leaned over to place a chaste kiss against his lips and Sasuke let him. Sasuke knew, as he kissed the man he had sworn to kill, that nothing was simple anymore.


	7. blood and kisses

The kiss was much like the ones they had shared in the past, a bumping of lips and grinding of teeth, awkward and slippery. The only difference was that Naruto had meant it as a _kiss_, not merely an accidental bumping of faces and that, somehow, made all the difference. The kiss was a gesture of dominance, of ownership, and the audacity of it made Sasuke furious. After a breathless moment, he drew his lips back into a snarl, uttering a sound of warning. Naruto stubbornly pursued him, pressing his attack only to be bitten, hard. The blood ran freely, dripping down Naruto's chin to stain the white of Sasuke's kimono.

The jinchuuriki yelped in pain, but refused to release Sasuke's mouth, pressing the other youth back against the wall. They fought, snapping at each other like dogs, too angry to speak. Sasuke's knee found Naruto's belly and the other youth grunted, head butting the Uchiha in return. Naruto's hand managed to escape Sasuke's grip long enough to grip the back of his skull, tangling in his hair. Sasuke bit him again, but the Jinchuuriki held on, growling against his lips. Sasuke, blushing both in anger and embarrassment, moved to strike Naruto, but lost his balance and ended up toppling them both over onto the bed. Naruto stopped trying to kiss Sasuke in favor of punching him instead and received a shattering blow to his wrist for the trouble. The loud snapping of Naruto's ulna followed by the jinchuuriki's scream echoed through the house. By the time Sakura threw the door open, Naruto and Sasuke were fighting on relatively equal footing with Naruto's hand basically useless and Sasuke's left leg too uncoordinated to be a threat. The two young men grappled fiercely on the floor, grunting as they fought, too engrossed in the battle to notice the kunoichi.

"What the HELL is going on?" The girl shrieked.

"Nothing!" Naruto shouted, sitting up enough to spit blood from his mangled lip into Sasuke's face. The Uchiha responded by cuffing him hard across the face.

"STOP IT!" Sakura roared.

Sasuke shoved Naruto away with a huff, crossing his arms sullenly over his chest. Naruto grumbled, but moved away as well to sit against the wall hugging his knees. Sakura stormed into the room, her green eyes blazing with anger. Naruto dropped his eyes to contemplate the tatami and Sasuke soon joined him as the furious gaze of the kunoichi fell upon him in turn. Sakura crossed her arms, more to keep from striking them than anything else, and surveyed the chaos before her. Blood was smeared over both of their faces and still dripping from Naruto's mouth. Sasuke was sporting a new bruise on his face and Naruto was cradling his wrist gingerly, glaring at the floor like they would light it on fire. Each of them looked flushed and angry and Sakura did not miss it when Naruto rubbed covertly at his eyes.

"Morons! You honestly think that _this _is the way!" Sakura growled, the boys flinched.

"He kissed me." Sasuke mumbled.

"You were being a bastard." Naruto hissed.

"Shut UP!" Sakura shouted and again there was silence.

Naruto and Sasuke both stared woodenly at the floor, too angry to look at each other and neither willing to meet Sakura's eyes. The girl knelt in front of Naruto and gently took his wrist into her hands. It was obviously broken, but the jinchuuriki's powerful healing had already set the bones to re-knitting at an odd angle. Without a word, Sakura flicked her hands and re-broke the new bone, forcing the edges into the appropriate plane. Naruto screamed and Sakura noticed how Sasuke cringed at the sound. Idiots. Once Naruto's wrist was firmly set to heal straight, and the jinchuuriki no longer looked about to pass out from the pain, the girl moved to Sasuke. She laid her hands against his face and chest, healing the bumps and bruises already starting to swell with a rush of emerald chakra. She gripped Sasuke's face firmly, efficiently checking his lips for bites and healing the few she found. Naruto's remaining wounds healed as she worked on Sasuke. Both the men were silent. The wind chimes tinkled as

"You two are a mess." She sighed.

"Sorry." Naruto whispered.

"Is that for me or for Sasuke?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Both." The jinchuuriki whispered miserably.

Sasuke raised his head to look at Naruto, his expression both confused and a little shocked. Naruto was still staring at the floor, the tears in his eyes hidden by his hair. Sasuke felt something ugly turn over in his guts, a feeling almost like shame. Sakura met his eyes, but she didn't look angry anymore, just a little sad. With a sigh, the girl stood from her crouch and brushed her hand softly through Sasuke's hair. The Uchiha let himself be touched and said nothing.

"Get undressed." She said briskly.

Both ninja snapped their heads up to stare at her, mouths hanging open in mirrored expressions of shock. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You guys are filthy. You need a bath." Sakura explained.

"Oh." Sasuke breathed.

"Y...Y..You mean together?" Naruto stuttered.

"Pervert." Sasuke sniped.

"Yes. If you two can bite each other, you can clean each other up. Besides, Sasuke can barely walk and you _are_ both guys. Deal with it." Sakura said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"I'd rather drown myself in the pond than be alone with _him_." Sasuke spat arrogantly.

"Fine. That settles it. I'm coming too." Sakura said, leveling a glare at each of them in turn.

OoOoOoO

Naruto stripped his clothing off as Sakura fetched towels, the drying blood sticky against his skin. His wrist was still swollen and tender, making the buttons of his shirt tricky to undo. Sasuke was having a similar struggle with his hakama, trying to remove the pants without relying on his left leg to be where he thought it was. Naruto sighed in frustration. Sakura was right, they were a mess.

"Hey, teme, you need help?" Naruto asked quietly.

"No." Sasuke snapped. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Well..." Naruto took a breath, "I do. C...C..Can you do this?" Naruto asked.

It was risky, giving Sasuke any kind of opening. An admission of weakness usually only made Sasuke resentful and sometimes even angry, but Naruto was tired of the facade. He was _exhausted_ and sore and embarrassed already and his pride hadn't gotten them anywhere. Sasuke looked up, startled, from where he had been fumbling with the hakama ties. His dark eyes were round and uncertain for a moment before the Uchiha hid his face behind his ebony hair. Naruto sighed and turned away. At least Sasuke hadn't laughed. Sasuke hated him, he was the one too stupid to believe it...

As he turned back to the damn buttons, his hands were slapped aside. Sasuke knelt awkwardly above him, his graceful fingers undoing the buttons with ease despite the slight trembling of the Uchiha's hands. Naruto just sat there a moment, too shocked to move much less speak. Sasuke..._his_ Sasuke...king bastard of them all and he was helping him. It was a miracle.

"Thanks." Naruto grinned.

"Shut up."

The jinchuuriki sighed, same old bastard after all. Naruto reached with his good hand for the stubbornly twisted leg of the hakama pants, gently pulling the material until the garment became loose again. Sasuke finished with Naruto's shirt and slipped out of the pants, relieved that the garment was easier to escape. Both suddenly naked, the men turned away from each other, their blush hidden by the blood smeared over their faces. Naruto stood and offered a hand to Sasuke, who stared carefully at his left foot leg as he stood also. They shivered in the chilly air blowing in from the window.

Sakura didn't even knock before striding into the room wrapped in a towel, her long hair twisted up in a clip. Sasuke kept his composure, though his eyes widened and his face reddened suspiciously, but Naruto practically fell back onto the floor. Somehow seeing her in only a towel was more indecent than seeing her naked. Sakura blushed hotly, but kept her determination and proceeded to hand out towels. She supported Sasuke's left arm as he wrapped the towel about his waist, fumbling with it more than usual out of sheer nervousness. The Uchiha could barely remember the last time someone had touched him like this, on his skin, without any hint of violence. The intimacy of it made him shiver. Naruto managed to one-hand the towel enough to keep it on, but had to redo it three times before the damn thing settled onto his hips properly. Sakura took one look at it and shook her head.

The girl maneuvered herself between them, keeping Sasuke's arm resting against her shoulder and not trusting himself enough to let go, the Uchiha maintained the contact. Once close enough, Sakura freed her hands so she could re-tie Naruto's towel. By the time his girlfriend was done with the towel, Naruto was seeing stars from breathing too quickly. Sakura was still blushing, but she had worked with plenty of naked people in the hospital and so she tried to focus on the task at hand instead of the fact that it was Naruto and Sasuke's skin against her own. They were so close, the three of them, all touching and breathing in each others air. Sasuke met Naruto's eyes over her shoulder and looked more plainly terrified than the jinchuuriki had ever seen him before. Sakura bit her lip and turned carefully so that Naruto could come against Sasuke's other side. The Uchiha, lowered his face and swallowed. Sakura could feel him shaking where she braced up against his side.

"It's ok. It's ok." Sakura whispered as much for them as for herself. Naruto nodded a little to shakily.

"Come on, before we get cold. Bastard left the door open again." Naruto muttered. Sasuke glared at him, but there wasn't much force behind it.

"Yeah." Sakura agreed as she clumsily moved away to open the interior door.

Naruto held Sasuke tightly around the waist in case the other ninja's left leg gave out again. It was clear from the way Sasuke scowled at the appendage that he had no sense of where it should be. It felt weird, holding each other so close even though both of them were stilled caked with one another's blood. Naruto kept expecting Sasuke to shove him away, but apparently the threat of landing flat on his face kept the Uchiha firmly wrapped in Naruto's arm. Naruto wasn't sure if he should be grateful or worried and so he was a bit of both. The hallway to the bathroom suddenly seemed much longer than he remembered it being and Sasuke was still trembling slightly against him. Naruto took a deep breath and followed Sakura.

Sasuke could feel every one of Naruto's breaths against his own chest and he wondered if the idiot wasn't breathing too fast. It would be just like Naruto to hyperventilate and send both of them toppling. Sakura walked a little ahead of them, close enough to catch him if he fell and the gesture made his face hot with shame. He wasn't used to help at the best of times and this may have been the first time that he actually really needed it...the whole situation was humiliating. Never in his worst nightmares had he imagined that he would one day back practically carried naked down the hall of his childhood home by his ex-teammates. Still, he was relieved to be out of the room and up and almost walking. The fact that he was doing it using Naruto as a crutch was just incidental. Sasuke was glad at least that he had a good excuse to stare at his own leg instead of Sakura's or he would be breathing as fast as Naruto was.

Eventually they arrived at a large door towards the posterior of the building which led into a rather industrial looking bathroom, almost of the same sort as an athletic compound might have. There was a row of showers lining one wall along with benches and several large soaking tubs in a separate alcove on the other side. Risking a quick glance away from his leg, Sasuke looked around and tried to make sense of the place. Naruto seemed relatively at ease and Sakura was already gathering soap and shampoo so they had obviously come here intentionally, but something seemed out of place. Sasuke was confused, he was fairly certain that this was not _the_ bathing room though it did appear to be _a_ bathing room. The bathing room where he had washed as a child had been larger and more luxurious, less efficient. Naruto and Sakura had taken him to the servants bathing room instead of the family one on the other side of the mansion, which probably meant that they had no idea that the other one even existed. The Uchiha filed that little bit of information away in case it became useful later. At any rate, he was not willing to walk all the way to the other side of the house clutching the dobe for fear of landing on his face.

With a sigh, Sasuke shoved Naruto away and sat clumsily onto one of the benches, removing his towel as he went to fold it over his lap. Naruto warily sat beside him, rubbing his hands through his hair to hide his nervousness. Sakura brought over a basket of various soaps, shampoo and conditioner, which everyone looked at as though it contained venomous snakes. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on!" She said with a huff and removed her towel to hang it over one of the nearby hooks.

Both of the young men stared at her open mouthed, including Naruto who had already seen her naked, if not by the light of day. The looks on their faces was not something Sakura paused to interpret, not if she didn't want to loose her nerve. She was _proving_ something to them, showing them that it was okay to be a little vulnerable, gain some kind of trust. Still, it was hard and she had always been horribly self conscious about the way she looked. Even letting Naruto really look at her in the hospital had been hard, harder than proposing to hims which was totally ridiculous. The girl took a deep breathe. If she expected them to trust her, to trust each other, she just had to give them a token of her own trust first and if that meant a communal shower, well, so be it. After all, she was reasonably sure that left alone they would just start fighting again and she really didn't want to re-break any more of Naruto's bones. Sakura could feel the blush moving all the way down her chest and was sure that it was fully visible to everyone, but she had asked Naruto to marry her dammit! She wasn't going to be conquered by her own self-consciousness, not now, not when they needed her to be strong. Sakura told herself that they were staring, not because she was ugly, but just because they had never seen her be so bold. With what felt like an incredible effort, the girl turned to her fiance and his...well...Sasuke and turned on the water.

Sasuke knew that his mouth was hanging open, but the synapse which connected his brain with his jaw seemed to be malfunctioning. Not only was she the first woman he had _ever_ seen completely naked, but she was even more lovely than he remembered. True, the moonlight had been lovely against her skin, but the silver light had washed all the color from her hair and cheeks. Color, he decided, was a very powerful thing. Now, in the full lighting of the bath he could see the vibrant pink of her hair and how the soft curls of her pubis were several shades darker, almost cherry colored. She was a study of monochromatic variations of red, her lips petal pink and her nipples a rosy dusk. Her breasts were pale, the fairest shade of rose and bigger than he had thought. He had never noticed before how perfectly round her breasts were, spreading wide and full over the high curve of her pectoral muscles. As a ninja Sakura was called upon to maintain her physique and she managed a perfect combination of softness and tone. Her cheeks were a deeper hue with the blush that spread in a fetching stain all the way to her muscular belly. The only part of the girl not some kind of pink or red were her emerald green eyes...he had never noticed that before. The plain girl he had pushed away so many times now took his breathe away and Sasuke found himself staring, unable to stop.

"You are gorgeous." Naruto breathed as she sat beside him. Sakura smiled. Sasuke looked away, the muscles of his jaw working.

"How's your hand?" She asked a little sheepishly.

"Hurts. You might have warned me." He huffed.

"Sorry. I was mad."

"I could tell." Naruto replied, raising his eyebrow.

Sasuke felt as if he had been shut out, intruding on something that should have been private. Perhaps it was better though, for them to focus on each other and allow him to gather his wits. Sakura and Naruto were talking the way that lovers do and it left him feeling almost unwelcome, which was stupid because he shouldn't care either way. Sakura giggled a little and kissed Naruto's ear lobe, making the jinchuuriki smile. A bit of icy jealousy speared through Sasuke and he turned away. He reached for some sandalwood shampoo and began furiously washing Naruto's blood out of his hair, determined to be rid of any lasting residue of the dobe's angry kisses. He could feel a bruise that Sakura had missed on his skull and winced as his fingers brushed it a bit too roughly. Suddenly a smaller pair of hands joined his own, working the fragrant soap through his hair. Pleasure, deep and instinctual bubbled up within Sasuke at her touch and it took an effort of will to remain silent under her hands. The feel of her fingers against his scalp was amazing, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Surely once, when he was a child, someone must have washed his hair, but he couldn't remember how it had felt...certainly not as good as this. Rubbing gentle circles through his hair, Sakura erased all thoughts from his mind, leaving only warm bliss behind. Before he realized what he was doing, Sasuke was leaning into her touch, head resting against her belly. All too soon, her hands were gone and Sasuke was being gently rinsed with hot water. He tried to remember exactly what it was he had been unhappy about and only managed to think in lazy circles as he rinsed in the warm spray.

Sakura moved to Naruto, gently scrubbing the blood from his face with a soft cloth, kissing him once he was free of it. The jinchuuriki sighed as if in relief and gave into her kisses hungrily, even as he leaned against Sasuke. For once, the Uchiha felt no inclination whatsoever to move away. Naruto pulled her against him into his lap and proceeded to wash her hair. Sasuke noticed that Naruto was doing a rather terrible job of it, missing half the length of Sakura's glistening rose colored mane. Before he could really think about what he was doing or what it meant, Sasuke lowered himself to his knees and proceeded to wash the length of Sakura's hair. The girl sighed against Naruto's shoulder and something warm bloomed in Sasuke's chest. The feeling was terrifying and hot and he didn't want it to stop, ever.

The three of them took their time washing, talking without saying anything and it was...okay, despite what Sasuke had thought. The experience was comfortable despite the closeness, the intimacy...the truth was he tried not to think very much. The water was warm and there was warmth in his chest where there had only been icy nothing before and he didn't really know what to do so he washed and wondered if he was going crazy. Sakura knelt before Naruto, cleaning the dirt from beneath his nails with a sharpened wooden tool and Sasuke scrubbed Naruto's shoulders as the hot water pounded against the muscles of his neck. For a moment, he forgot everything except for Naruto's muscles against his hands and the sight of Sakura's breasts as she knelt under the spray.

"My hand is still killing me, you guys wanna soak some?" Naruto suggested.

Sakura looked up in surprise at his words after so much quiet, but smiled and nodded. Sasuke tried to clumsily stand and walk to the tubs, but he made it barely a step before Naruto's strong arm came beneath his own. Once steady, the two of them climbed into the tub and waited while Sakura pulled up her hair. Naruto looked over at Sasuke where the other man sat trembling with some unspoken emotion.

"You okay, teme?" Naruto asked.

"Fine. Idiot." He replied, the insult too soft to be convincing.

"You guys sure made a wreck of each other," Sakura chided as she stepped into the tub.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Naruto said, turning his face away.

"A kiss isn't a contest, you know, there isn't any winner. You aren't going to prove anything with a kiss other than the emotion behind it." Sakura explained, turning to smile a little at Naruto.

"I don't have much experience kissing and I'm pretty sure that was Sasuke's first real kiss." Naruto sighed.

"Was not!" Sasuke hissed.

"Well, not if you count that one time over the waterfall..." Naruto teased.

"_That_ doesn't count!"

"Does too."

"Does not."

"ANYWAY, you should start gentle." Sakura huffed, halting the argument before it went any further. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I _was_ gentle! He bit me first!" Naruto whined. Sasuke scowled at that.

"No, _gentle_, like this..." Sakura said, and brushed her lips over Naruto's as she cradled his face in her hands.

The kiss was slow, soft and almost tentative. At first a mere brushing of lips and then a mild press of flesh. The girl moved her thumbs over the muscles of his jaw, encouraging Naruto to relax, to open his mouth for her. After a few moments of gentle stroking the Jinchuuriki's jaw loosened and the girl dipped the tip of her tongue into his mouth. Sasuke watched, fascinated. Sakura pulled back and smiled at the blush spreading over Naruto's nose.

"See, _gentle_." She whispered.

Her point well made, Sakura turned to Sasuke and approached him as one would a startled animal. He shied away from her a bit, pressing his back against the rim of the tub. The girl paused a moment and slowed her movements. Sasuke's face was tense and wary, but Sakura only smiled at him a little, waited a few breaths and moved closer. Having run out of room to retreat unless he wanted to jump out of the tub, Sasuke stilled himself and watched her approach. At first Sakura only laid one of her hands against his face, letting him feel her skin and grow accustomed to her closeness. When he allowed the contact, she moved a little closer, resting the other hand against his neck. Naruto watched, afraid to breathe, afraid the fragile moment would shatter. Sakura rested there, watching the maelstrom of emotions cross through Sasuke's eyes. She stroked his cheek softly with her thumb, watching his eyes widen at the sensation. Slowly, tentatively, the girl moved her lips over the Uchiha's.

Barely a whisper of flesh against flesh, as light as a summer breeze and just as warm. Sasuke had never imagined that a simple touch could be so powerful and despite his pride, despite his hate, he found himself leaning towards her, chasing the warmth. Sakura cradled his neck, her fingers gently stroking the sensitive skin behind his left ear. Her thumb moved slowly against his cheek, gently rubbing against the tight muscle of his jaw. She coaxed him, her mouth yielding and her hands insistent, gently brushing her mouth against his own. After many moments of the fluttering kisses Sasuke relaxed and opened his mouth for her. Sakura drew his lower lip into her mouth, stroking him softly with her tongue. With a sigh of surrender and pleasure, he wrapped his arms around the girl, kissing her with clumsy abandon.

Naruto moved behind them, stroking the side of Sakura's left breast to make her shiver in Sasuke's arms. Softly, the jinchuuriki rested his hands against Sasuke's shoulders and waited. Sasuke opened his eyes, glancing at Naruto through the ebony curtain of his lashes. There was a flash of heat, a bit of anger, but Sakura was practically sitting in Sasuke's lap and he did not feel inclined to move her. The Uchiha glared, but allowed the touch, moaning into Sakura's mouth as the girl moved her hand to stroke the muscular planes of his chest. Naruto brushed his lips over the flushed skin of Sasuke's shoulder and was rewarded as the Uchiha sighed and trembled under his fingers. Sasuke's hands were on Sakura's hips, holding her against him beneath the water as Naruto brushed kisses over his shoulders and down his spine. The feeling was almost like channeling lightening: hot, quivering and on the knife's edge of control.

Naruto moved to kiss Sakura over Sasuke's shoulder just as the girl brushed the edges of her fingers over the inside of his thigh. Sasuke felt trapped between them, smoldering in the dual embrace. Sakura's breasts were soft and lovely against his chest and Naruto's mouth had grown bolder, the jinchuuriki's tongue flicking against the back of his neck. He sat in the arms of his greatest enemy, holding the girl he had sworn not to love, moaning for them both and helpless to stop. Sakura was kissing his throat and Naruto's arm had come around them both. He could feel the hard muscles of Naruto's chest against his back, the warm slosh of the water as they writhed against each other. Sakura's clever hands found the hardening shaft of his erection and the erotic fire sparked by her touch turned his thoughts to burning white nothing.

Naruto was moaning softly in his ear, the sound almost like purring. Sasuke's head fell back against the jinchuuriki's muscular shoulder, his mouth open in a silent exclamation as Sakura coaxed his body into the most intense orgasm he had ever experienced. She was still rubbing, milking the sensitive flesh when Sasuke found that he could breathe again. Naruto's calloused hand was against his jaw, rubbing, and Sakura was stroking him beneath the water and the world was nothing but heat and skin. The jinchuuriki leaned over to place a chaste kiss against his lips and Sasuke let him. Sasuke knew, as he kissed the man he had sworn to kill, that nothing was simple anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

_I want to take a minute to thank some of my awesome reviewers who have been so supportive, even through the drama, I am still writing for you! Thanks especially to Greenaceofspades and Darkhellia who even took the time and energy to go back to review some previous chapters, I value your thoughts greatly. Thank you also to Stormingnight who has been reading from the start. It is a lot easier to find the time to write knowing that such cool people are reading and enjoying the product. In honor of Halloween, this is a pretty scary chapter so be ready for a little darkness of the creepy violent kind. Thank you to everyone who wrote a review, you truly make my month every time you do! Thank you and enjoy!_

Why? Sasuke wondered as Naruto bent again to kiss his nipples, setting the long untouched flesh aflame. Why did he allow this weakness? What was wrong with him? Sasuke tried to retreat, pull away into his mind and find the anger again, but he couldn't. Sakura, still tentative, licked his navel sending sparks of erotic fire deep into his groin. He moaned, liking how the sound made Naruto rumble and wondered if they were performing some kind of jutsu to steal his soul. Naruto turned his attention to Sakura, pulling her into a deep kiss that left the girl gasping. Sasuke wanted to touch her hair, her breasts, but he stilled himself. If he gave in to the urge, then all of this would be his fault too...yet...

Naruto moved behind Sakura, his tan body trembling with want, kissing her back aggressively and effectively pinning her against Sasuke. Despite how the jinchuuriki held her, bit her and loved her with everything except for his cock, Sasuke knew that Naruto would pull back. He never went all the way, pulling away from her before he lost control. Sometimes Sakura would try to force him, taking control in their love-play and driving Naruto to the edge with her mouth and her body. Still, that night in the moonlight had been the only time Sasuke had ever seen Naruto's iron control over his desires slip. His teeth sometimes lengthened and so did his claws, but Naruto steadfastly resisted. He would finish her with his fingers or, if he was bold, his mouth, but never go further. Naruto never went further with either of them.

That was another mystery and Sasuke was fairly certain that whatever was happening to the golden haired idiot in bed was related to what made him so ill out of it. Naruto loved to train, always had, but Sasuke had watched several times as Sakura bolted out to the training field after the jinchuuriki collapsed. It had been many years, but Sasuke remembered Naruto having an almost endless, inhuman reservoir of energy. It was one of the things that made him so damn annoying. Now, however, Naruto tired the way a normal ninja would. He always looked feverish and his appetite for anything other than their almost-but-not-quite sex was gone. Sakura even had to force ramen on him..._ramen_! It was like someone else inhabited Naruto's body, someone with whom he was constantly fighting. Sasuke guessed it was the fox, but Sakura became all tight lipped and angry every time he asked.

It had been some sort of weird unspoken agreement that Sasuke's time out of Naruto's bed had ended that day in the bathes. The Uchiha had been too groggy and warm to protest much when Naruto stood and slung him over his shoulder like a bag of rice. The whole thing had been horribly undignified, but at least Sakura had shared the shame since Naruto hadn't seen fit to let her walk either. Had his brain managed to process the situation, Sasuke would have noted how mildly freakish it was that Naruto could carry _both_ of them so effortlessly. The jinchuuriki had always been strong, but Sasuke never remembered him being quite so powerful before. Maybe Kakashi was right...

Sasuke had snarled weakly, and fought him, but Naruto had carried his victim down the hall unperturbed by the words or the badly aimed punches. The Uchiha was relieved that the bedroom Naruto had chosen at least wasn't the one his parents had slept in. That would have been unbearable, not that being molested by his greatest enemy wasn't. Sasuke had fully planned on killing the bastard as soon as he was put down. The jinchuuriki's murder was foiled though, when Naruto had laid Sakura down on top of him, pinned his wrists and kissed them both. Sasuke felt helpless and hated it, but Sakura had only responded by kissing him and touching the electric spot behind his ear. Whatever it was that he had planned to say turned into one long, almost desperate moan. Naruto had grinned at him over her shoulder, teeth sharp and eyes hungry and Sasuke had been sure that his virginity would not last the night. Despite the rather immediate threat of both pain and incredible intimacy, the Uchiha couldn't quite escape the embrace.

His body, long unused to any kind of contact, was too sensitive and the girl's fingers against his nipples had halted the tirade before the words even escaped Sasuke's throat. Naruto had licked him, the roughened tongue against his throat oddly erotic, and pressed Sakura against him as he stimulated her with his fingers. Between the writhing girl against his chest and the powerful kisses, Sasuke had found it hard to resist. Sakura had bunched her muscles and cum against both of them and the feeling was so intense that Sasuke practically screamed. He had never been entirely sure what exactly Naruto was doing to her, but Sakura continued to cum, her body like a spring wound too tightly. The feel of her against him, so close that every curve of her body was molded against his own, even as she moaned into his mouth set all of his nerves on fire. By the time Naruto put his mouth against him, Sasuke felt like he had been pulled taught like a bowstring. The jinchuuriki then proceeded to nuzzle both of them into release and it was only when the heat had cleared from his vision that Sasuke wondered why both he and Sakura were still virgins.

It happened that way again and again, each time more puzzling than the last and, to his shame, Sasuke barely even gave a token of complaint anymore. He had somehow become used to being Naruto's love toy and, every time, he rose from the bed telling himself that it would never happen again...at least until the next time, when it did. Sasuke had tried blaming Sakura, since she always distracted him from killing Naruto, but even he knew that was a lie. When Naruto called him to bed, the Uchiha came and wondered if he was losing his sanity for the brief moments when he was able to wonder anything at all. Life had become like one long, sensual dream and Sasuke couldn't decide if it was a nightmare or not.

Naruto's hand found his erection and Sasuke moved against him, helpless to resist the sensation, all thoughts of the past gone in the burning truth of the present. Sakura was still quivering with her last orgasm and getting that look into her eyes like maybe she would pounce on Naruto and try to make love to him. The aggression in her body was glorious. By Kami he wanted to touch her...Touch him...Sasuke whimpered and fisted his hands in the sheets. No. he wouldn't give in, not this time. Naruto noticed her expression and moved to rub his free thumb against her nipple, coaxing her to the brink again as his other hand moved over Sasuke. Soon both of them where moaning hard for the jinchuuriki.

There was a tiny moment when Sasuke was very near the edge of his control and Sakura looked determined to hold onto hers. Sasuke worried briefly that he would be caught up in some kind of sensual violence between them, but the girl chose instead to suck Sasuke's nipples and topple him into another shrieking orgasm against Naruto's hand. Sasuke was cumming, his mouth on Sakura's breasts and no memory of when his resistance broke. He came, twitching against the roughened fingers and breathing hard against the softness of Sakura's body, his mind a white blank. Sakura came too then, overcome by the sensation, though her cry sounded more angry, filled with frustration.

The three of them panted and breathed together for a moment, but then Naruto was pulling away out of Sakura's arms, moving to escape his own urges. Sasuke sighed and wondered how his life had come to be so odd, throwing an arm over his face to hide his expression. The Uchiha had discovered the hard way how difficult it was to control his face after love play. If they saw, if either of them knew just how _frustrated_ he was...Sasuke's facade had crumbled enough already. His old teammates didn't need to know that sometimes, in moments like this one, he truly wished Naruto would just _take_ him. The tension, the uncertainty was slowly driving Sasuke insane, but his dignity had suffered too much already and he barely even knew who_ he_ was anymore, let alone what he really wanted. Naruto turned, smiling and trembling, to lie on the other side of the bed. Sakura scowled and moved out of Sasuke's embrace. Sasuke tried very hard not to care about anything...and failed.

"Damn you, Naruto." She whispered. The jinchuuriki ignored her, turning away from them.

"Why won't you love me, dammit! What's _wrong_ with me?" Sakura shouted and Sasuke could hear tears in her voice. Naruto flinched.

"Sakura..." Naruto sighed, looking miserable.

"No! Don't you dare! You've done it _again_!" The girl wailed and punched him.

Naruto took the blow and turned his blue eyes towards them. Sasuke watched something like terror chase through his expression. The emotion was carefully masked, hidden before Sasuke could really see what the feeling had been, and Naruto was smiling at them again. Sasuke wanted to wipe the stupid fake grin off of his face badly and not for the first time. The Uchiha rose onto his elbows and watched Sakura cry. He hated it, watching her cry, it twisted him up inside. He had made her cry so many times and had always been able to ignore how it made him feel. After all, Sasuke had never pretended to care for her, he had never given her any reason to stay with him. He had done everything he could to make her hate him and so it really shouldn't hurt when she cried. Yet, he had never realized that the feeling could be so much more awful when Naruto was the reason she was crying. Naruto was _supposed_ to care, Naruto was _supposed_ to be the good guy, Naruto loved her and he almost _never_ made her cry...Hearing her sobbing in the darkness with only the jinchuuriki's silence made him hurt and he hated it, but he couldn't escape even if it was only weakness. He was angry and worried too and what the hell was going on? Sasuke's cherished aloofness evaporated. He had to know.

"Why?" Sasuke whispered and both Sakura and Naruto whipped their heads around to look at him, their silhouettes tense.

"Why what?" Naruto said, shrugging guiltily. Sasuke snarled a little.

"Why don't you ever go all the way?" The Uchiha whispered.

"Well, it isn't like you want me to." Naruto hissed sullenly.

"If you _don't_ want to, then why the fuck am I here!" Sasuke shouted.

"If you _weren't_ here, your head would be decorating the gates of Konoha. Believe it!" Naruto spat.

"So I'm here out of pity, how good of you!" Sasuke snapped sarcastically.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted.

Silence fell heavily into the bedroom as Naruto searched for the words. Sakura sat, tense and angry, on her heels. Sasuke waited, unsure whether to feel angry or worried or nothing at all.

"I...I..If I do, if I do...go all the way...Gaara said it was dangerous, he said that you could die." Naruto said in a small voice.

"I would have died anyway. The hag might still execute me if you can't do it." Sasuke said coldly and even to him it sounded like a challenge.

"You are still too weak teme." Naruto said heavily. Sasuke bristled.

"Baka!" he hissed, moving as if to strike.

Naruto said nothing, but moved to rest a hand on the star shaped scar on Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha only managed not to scream by the barest margin. Though days had passed and the wound had healed into a jagged looking bruise, but the pain from the aggravated nerves was still tremendous. Sasuke saw spots before his eyes as the agony shot down his arm. Naruto nodded, his point made.

"And me? I am I too weak too?" Sakura growled.

"I don't know..." Naruto sighed, "I don't know but..."

"But what! We've already been through this!" Sakura cried. Sasuke frowned and held his tongue.

"All I know is that if I lost you...either of you...I just can't...I can't do that." Naruto whispered.

The jinchuuriki rose, put on his kimono and left the room as silence fell like wet wool around them. Sakura cried a little more, but mastered herself and left also. Sasuke stared at the ceiling and tried to ignore the pain deep in his chest.

OoOoOo

Naruto lay on the forest floor, watching the weak autumn moon as it rose feebly over the high trees. Enough leaves had fallen to make the ground soft, but he was still uncomfortable. The jinchuuriki wondered briefly if it was possible for a person to burst from their own skin out of sheer tactile irritation. Even the silken texture of his robe felt rough and course to his sensitized skin and the soft leaves beneath him felt like so many tiny knives. He had new respect for Gaara. The other jinchuuriki had talked about the heat so coolly, as if it hadn't been practically torture and Gaara had even been alone. Still, maybe the desert was more comfortable than the forest... Naruto doubted it.

By Kami he hated it! Naruto hated fighting, especially with Sakura, but he couldn't give her what she wanted, not if it meant losing her. He couldn't lose her and he had already lost Sasuke once... The pain of it was still fresh in his thoughts. Naruto scowled. He could suffer if it meant that they remained safe and once the heat was over he could take his time, be careful...The wind howled and he wondered if it would rain before dawn. The thought of rain was almost a relief, his skin felt so painfully hot even with the chilly air. The jinchuuriki groaned as his vision became fuzzy, the fever making his head ache.

"_You are weak kit..." _Kyuubi purred.

"Shut up." Naruto panted aloud, his breathe foggy in the cold air.

"_Soon your mind won't have the strength to hold me back." _

"You have what you want." Naruto growled.

"_I want to mate." _

"We have a deal, dammit!"

" _I never agreed to anything..." _The fox hissed, giddily.

"I have a mate AND a subordinate!"

"_Neither of them belong to you, not yet..." _

"They will, I am taking my time!"

"_So I noticed, but I already know that you have no intention of taking them so long as there is a risk. Pathetic."_

"The risk may be less..later." Naruto groaned, his head felt like it was splitting open.

"_It won't."_

"Fuck you." Naruto whimpered, shaking.

"_There is always risk kit. Always..." _The fox whispered, it's presence very near.

"No! Stop!" Naruto shrieked. He could feel the fox surfacing within him as it never had before, pushing his tired consciousness aside. The beast came forth and though he fought it, Naruto was overwhelmed.

"_Even human love is risk..."_

"You know nothing about humans!"

"_I know the extent of their strength and yours is nearly gone." _Kyuubi said and Naruto felt something odd, a pushing almost. There was a feeling of resistance and of his will being overcome, a kind of floating...

"Ahhh! No! Leave them alone!" Naruto screamed, but no sound came from his lips. Naruto fought and shrieked, but his body didn't move and his throat refused to release the noise. Kyuubi had forced him aside.

"It is time kit." Kyuubi said with his mouth.

"_Please...no...please..."_ Naruto wept, but no tears fell.

"Resistance is pointless, kit. Nature is the final authority on all, all life must succumb to its will." Kyuubi whispered, trying to sooth the plaintive shrieking in its head.

"_Please! I am begging you! Don't!"_ Naruto wailed. Kyuubi ignored him.

"You are too young to understand. Love and strength and death. They are unavoidable and only humans see them as separate anyway. They are not." Kyuubi said as it rose from the forest floor and flexed its claws.

"_No! No!" _

The kit shrieked within, but Kyuubi turned away from the child's cries. The demon stood, wearing Naruto's body, as the moon was lost behind the coming rain clouds. The fox barely noticed. Kyuubi did not need the lunar glow to see and even if it had, the smell would have been enough of a guide anyway...

OoOoOoO

Sakura chopped the onions angrily, attacking the vegetables with all the force of her frustration. Naruto probably wouldn't eat the stupid soup anyway and Sasuke would eat with his normal chilly reserve, quickly and wordlessly. The girl wouldn't have bothered except she needed SOMETHING to do other than worry. Naruto was obviously still worried about hurting her, worried enough that he was willing to suffer indefinitely rather than consummate their relationship. Sakura had spent many long years trying to anesthetize her soul after Sasuke deserted and had finally managed to share a broken, uncomfortable relationship with Naruto. It was tentative and slow, but it had been a victory for her nonetheless. Still, she had never given him what he needed, preferring to hide behind a surgical mask and a 72 hour work week than actually face her feelings and risk losing him as well. Now that she had figured herself out, come to terms with things and found her confidence, Naruto no longer wanted her.

Maybe it had been too long, too much time, she didn't know. Just once, Sakura wanted to help Naruto, be there for him despite the risk. She loved him, she wanted to marry him and the way Naruto's health had been declining terrified her. Could life be cruel enough to take him from her just when she had finally found the courage to take the chance herself? She had failed so many times in the past... Sakura gasped, the tears flowing again.

"Damn onions." She swore.

Sasuke sat in the far corner of the kitchen, sipping his tea moodily, silent as usual. Sakura wiped her face and ignored him. Now that she finally had Sasuke back, Sakura was not sure what to do with him. He was the same cold, stony bastard as before and she was no longer hopelessly obsessed with him, but Sakura had never stopped loving him. There was a grace, a dignity in Sasuke that she had always respected. Even now, even after all he had done, she loved him. Though the Uchiha had made it perfectly clear that he thought nothing of her, Sakura could see the lie of it in his eyes when she kissed him. Sasuke was terrible with his emotions, but Sakura didn't mind as long as Naruto never allowed him to leave again. She could tolerate his disdain and his cold apathy as long as she saw the heat in his eyes when they touched. Now Naruto's disdain, on the other hand, that she could not survive.

"Is that dobe going to sleep outside all night?" Sasuke grumbled.

"Maybe." Sakura sighed.

"Good. I hope he catches a cold and dies!" Sasuke spat, his worry making him cruel.

"I'll bury you with him." Sakura said tonelessly.

"Peh, I'm not afraid of dying." Sasuke groused.

"No, just of living."

Sasuke scowled, but stayed silent, the argument apparently becoming too personal for his tastes. Sakura continued cooking, watching the storm blow in and worrying. Naruto, like all ninja, was comfortable sleeping outside, but the rain would make it miserable. Just as the girl was thinking about putting the soup on low and abandoning the homicidal maniac to search for her fiance, she heard his steps in the hall. She breathed a sigh of relief and went to greet him, even apologize, when she noticed Sasuke's face. The Uchiha's scowl was gone, replaced by an expression of intense focus. Then she noticed it too...

The steps, the sound of them just weren't...right. Sakura knew the sound of Naruto's tread and even the pattern of his chakra when he kept his feet silent. She was even able to hear and discern the tiny noises of his breathing on stealth missions. The complex pattern of sound and sensation that was Naruto Uzumaki seemed oddly dissonant. The distinction was subtle and at first everything seemed familiar, exactly like Naruto, but then she heard it again. Sasuke stiffened, cocking his head to listen. The weight distribution was off somehow, very uncharacteristic. Naruto always walked just a little bit back onto his heels, his body arched back slightly, unless he was intentionally keeping silent. Sakura could very easily hear the toes scraping against the floor on every third step and Naruto _never_ did that, she would have noticed. Hell, even Sasuke noticed. Perhaps he was injured or merely exhausted, but there was something in Sasuke's posture that made her hesitate. Sasuke looked tensed, careful and very focused. The Uchiha activated his sharingan and gasped, eyes wide with pain and horror.

"Sakura! Run!" Sasuke shouted as he rose onto his left knee and grabbed the butcher knife that had been sitting on the edge of the counter.

"What? Why? What is it?" Sakura cried, moving closer to Sasuke.

The Uchiha's face was a mask of focused stillness as he moved into as best a fighting stance as he could manage from one knee. The knife in his hand terrified her, but whatever it was moving through the hallway scared her more. Thunder boomed outside and for a single breathless moment the electric lights flickered. Sasuke's right eye was beginning to bleed and he closed it, focusing the sharingan only with his left. The steps grew swifter.

"It isn't Naruto...I think...it's Kyuubi." Sasuke whispered. Sakura suppressed a shudder.

"I'm not leaving you." She whispered. Sasuke looked like he wanted to argue, but then the lights flickered out.

Sakura gasped, but suppressed the sound to move into a fighting stance of her own above Sasuke. She was blind in the darkness and prayed that at least Sasuke could see using his sharingan. The Uchiha was breathing through his noise, the sound of his soft exhalations deafening in the silence. Sakura held onto her vegetable knife a bit tighter, glad for the throwing knives she always kept ready in her clothing. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room in a flash of stark detail and Sakura saw him. The creature looked like Naruto, the body was the same, but everything else was totally foreign. It crouched, teeth gleaming, body low over its knees. Even after the light was gone, she could still see the red of its eyes, glowing like coals in the darkness.

The thunder seemed to resonate into her bones and had not ceased before another flash lit the room. The demon wearing Naruto's flesh had moved and now stood barely an inch before Sasuke's face. She had never heard it move. Sakura screamed and slashed blindly, but her hand was caught in a hot grip as hard as steel. Sasuke's blade was beneath it's throat, but Kyuubi still leered at them wickedly. They stood, frozen in the white light of the storm, as the beast assessed them. It's gaze made Sakura feel naked.

The girl struck with her foot, connecting solidly with its face, but Kyuubi barely budged. She pulled trying to escape the iron grasp, snarling fiercely. The grip tightened, putting calculated pressure on her nerves, and Sakura crumpled to her knees with a cry. Sasuke pushed the blade up against the tender triangle of Naruto's jaw and Sakura watched a tiny trickle of blood run down the Uchiha's knuckles.

"Release her or die." He hissed.

"Sasuke no! Don't!" Sakura shrieked. If he killed Kyuubi then Naruto died too.

"Oh yes. He has chosen well." The creature purred, its voice sounding as deep and elemental as thunder in the mountains. Nothing like Naruto's warm rumble.

"I'll do it. You know I will." Sasuke growled, jerking his arm to make his point.

"He will! Please, let Naruto go!" Sakura begged.

"You are magnificent. Both of you. He worries for nothing." Kyuubi purred, turning to roughly kiss her captured arm. Even though it was Naruto's mouth, the feel of it against her skin was foreign and threatening.

"Stop!" She shrieked.

"He would want it, Sakura. Death is better. Naruto would not want it this way." Sasuek snarled, preparing to thrust home with the knife. Sakura wasn't sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

"Enough play." Kyuubi growled.

Moving faster than the lightning surrounding them, Kyuubi had wrenched the knife from Sasuke's fingers and grabbed the Uchiha by the hair. Sakura was thrown against the wall hard enough that she saw stars. It was dark and she could barely see, but the girl heard the tearing of cloth and Sasuke's muffled scream. She tried to moved but the fox was still holding her ankle. The lights flickered back on revealing Kyuubi crouched over Sasuke, holding him down by his injured shoulder, his shirt in tatters. Sakura took advantage of the light, pulled a kunai from her thigh and flung it with deadly accuracy into the hand Kyuubi had on the man's shoulder. Sasuke reacted quickly, thrusting the heel of his hand up and into the creature's chin. Naruto's head snapped back with a sickening crunch of strained tendons, but Kyuubi merely cracked Naruto's neck and flooded the wound with chakra. Sakura watched as the bruises healed even as they surfaced. Sasuke used the opportunity to writhe out of the hold and move back towards Sakura. Sakura hurled another kunai at the hand around her ankle, but Kyuubi batted the weapon away with a flash of scarlet chakra.

Sasuke grabbed the kitchen knife and threw it at Naruto's face only to have the blade caught and intercepted in Naruto's fingers. The Uchiha's eyes widened in grudging admiration. Sakura's wrist hurt and so did her ankle as she pushed chakra into the bruises, healing even as she tried to regain her stance. The process was taking too much focus. She threw another kunai, just to give herself another moment to think. Kyuubi dodged the projectile and within the space of a thought, the creature wearing Naruto's face had moved, swept her legs from beneath her and established a hold on her throat. Sasuke moved behind it, stabbing one of the abandoned kunai into Naruto's heel. Kyuubi snarled in pain, but the weapon fell from the wound, pushed out by healing chakra. Sakura had never seen anything like it. It was like Kyuubi wasn't even made of flesh, but of energy. Sakura could hear Sasuke swear as Naruto's body twisted, trying to trap him in a knee hold.

The breath of the fox on her face was hot and too close. Sasuke was grappling with the beast, trying to both free himself and help her. Sakura could already see that they would lose and it terrified her. Sasuke was still weak and Kyuubi seemed immune to weapons or to pain. The only weakness left was internal, something psychological, but what the hell did rampaging fox demons think about? Sakura cursed and tried to bite the hand holding her.

Kyuubi snarled in warning and put pressure against her carotid arteries. Darkness was closing, her brain starved of blood and Sakura was falling...Sasuke's shouting seemed further and further away, but she couldn't give in to the soft darkness. She had to think, to find a way...Then it hit her: why was Kyuubi here in the first place? Palming her last kunai from its place against her arm, the girl used the last of her consciousness to whistle high and shrill. She swore the thing's ears perked at the sound of it. The fox released her throat. The girl coughed as the sharp pain of blood returning to her head lanced through her skull. Before the fox could incapacitate her further, the kunoichi brought the kunai hard against her own throat.

"Sakura! What are you doing!" Sasuke shouted.

"It isn't worth anything without me." The girl whispered.

"Careful." Kyuubi hissed, low and angry, but it stilled nonetheless.

"You can find other subordinates, but Naruto won't do anything without me."

"Give me the blade female." Kyuubi ordered.

"Let Naruto go. That isn't your body." Sakura growled. Sasuke's eyes were large and frightened from where he lay tangled in Naruto's legs.

"I...I do not understand. Why would you hurt yourself?" Kyuubi asked softly.

"This is something special to humans, to Naruto, and you cannot rush it. We must have our time." Sakura said, letting the kunai dig into her skin. Kyuubi gasped.

"Please. It hurts us both to watch you bleed." Kyuubi whined.

"Let him go." Sakura ordered. Kyuubi's face was still and cautious.

"You are...more than I thought. Your will is strong. You remind me of someone I loved, very long ago." Kyuubi said, gently running Naruto's knuckles along the side of her face.

"You...can love?" She asked.

"Oh yes. Once I loved very deeply." Kyuubi whispered, it's voice filled with some ancient sadness.

"Love is complicated." Sakura whispered.

"No, it is simple. I will go...for now." Kyuubi said.

The scarlet glow drained from Naruto's eyes leaving only exhausted blue behind. His breathing and stance and chakra all became familiar again. The jinchuuriki collapsed in a startled heap on top of Sakura as Sasuke roughly shoved himself away on the other side. Sasuke hid his face in his hair, but Sakura was certain he was just as relieved as she was. Naruto seemed as if he wanted to say something, maybe move, but instead he hugged her and began to sob against her hair. He cried and cried and the storm howled, but Sakura wasn't afraid anymore.


	9. Chapter 9

_Dear readers, thank you so much for continuing to read and review this story! I want to thank numbingpain95 and maxridelover especially for their kind reviews, it really made my month to hear everyone's thoughts and responses. Graybear32 and Wolftracks, thank you for the encouragement and honest criticism. Knowing that such awesome people are enjoying the effort makes me want to write as soon as I get home every day! I am so honored to share my imaginings with such amazing readers. Thank you also to stormingnight, this tale would not have been told without you. Thank you! Now, back to the story! Enjoy!_

"You're mine, dammit! I _am_ allowed to date you!" Naruto growled.

"I am not going out to some stupid bar! I won't sit beside you and bat my eyelashes like some lovestruck girl! This whole idea is ridiculous!" Sasuke railed.

"Fine. Then we'll go to some stupid restaurant and you can sit on the _floor_! Like a _pet_!" Naruto spat.

"Drop dead!"

"You first!"

"I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Sasuke snarled.

"You are _coming_ Sasuke, if I have to drag you out of here in chains! Believe it!"

"Doesn't _that_ sound enticing."

"Are you two fighting already?" Sakura sighed as she stepped into the bedroom.

Ever since the night Kyuubi possessed him, Naruto had been nervous and uncomfortable around everyone. His trepidation was almost a palpable force in the air and aside from a gentle hug or brief brush of fingers, the jinchuuriki hadn't touched either of them. Sakura was reasonably sure that Sasuke was just as relieved as she was that Naruto had survived the experience, but he only used Naruto's distance to retreat back into his own thoughts. She knew Sasuke well enough to have some idea about how dark his private musings must be and Sakura was not surprised when a heavy silence fell over the Uchiha. The delicate balance of their strange relationship had been lost and everyone had been walking on proverbial eggshells ever since. Whether it was Sasuke with his silence or her own nagging self consciousness or Naruto's fear, the warmth seemed drained from every room.

Sasuke had re-learned how to walk with reasonable competence and had even taken to moving through his katas, though it was with excruciating slowness. He practiced with the single mindedness of the perfect ninja, as he always had, and ignored everything else. Naruto rested, lying in the sun or stretching carefully since he was still too weak to train the way she knew he wanted to. Each was secretly frustrated. As for her, she trained late at night so no one would see her mistakes and life was frighteningly close to the ascetic pattern they had cleaved to as children.

Sakura fought with her mother about the wedding no one had started planning and wondered if she would really make it through everything. Days passed, each more painfully quiet and cold than the last. Even though autumn was still bright around them, Sakura felt like winter had come early to her home. She was not sure when the Uchiha mansion that Naruto was still convinced was haunted had become home to her, but it had and the silent uneasiness within its walls was driving her crazy. Meals were silent and awkward, though Naruto usually forced himself to finish whatever food she had prepared. Sasuke reacted as poorly to the tension in their household as he did to anything else, becoming even colder than usual and Sakura was left isolated. She was lonely, desperately lonely, even in the company of the two people she loved most.

Naruto had stopped sleeping in their large bed in favor of the couch and somehow an invisible wall had sprung up in the center of it in his absence. Sakura and Sasuke slept on opposite sides, never touching, each listening to the other pretend to sleep. She found that without Naruto to buffer her emotions or stir Sasuke from his apathy, neither of them were really able to relate. Talking with the raven haired youth was one sided and challenging and she knew he was equally frustrated with her for not being able to guess his mind. Half the time the Uchiha slept sitting, head resting against his crossed arms, guarding against some unseen threat. Once Sakura would have been flattered, but now the gesture merely made her uneasy. Sakura spent some nights crying into her pillow and hoping Sasuke couldn't hear it. The only thing to do was to stay busy and so she trained and cooked and watched over her men, all the while wondering when the barrier would crack...or if she would crack first.

When Naruto put down his chopsticks during breakfast that morning to announce that he was taking them out on a date, Sakura had thought he was kidding. She and Sasuek had simply stared at him for a heartbeat or two and gone back to eating. Naruto didn't date. He had never gone out with her for anything more than a companionable drink or perhaps some ramen. The jinchuuriki was just sort of a casual person, happy with simple food and uncomfortable being gawked at in any setting other than the arena. Naruto had always been more likely to bring flowers to her home or offer a massage than to suggest going out. She had smiled at him and sort of figured that the thought would pass. So, apparently, had Sasuke.

Still, she had found a brand new sparkling black dress waiting for her on the bed along with her only pair of heels that afternoon. Naruto must have begged Ino for her size because the dress fit perfectly even if it was ten times more revealing than anything else she owned. Sakura had always been worried about the way she looked and usually favored high collared dresses and tops worn with shorts or pants, at least when she wasn't wearing regular ninja gear. Strapless and several inches higher than her knee, Sakura was almost positive that it was the shortest dress she had ever worn. She almost considered wearing something else, but Ino sometimes wore things like that, so why couldn't she? After all, she was very nearly a married woman and her fiance obviously had a serious appreciation for her legs.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura had tried it on and decided that she looked just as nice in it as any other reasonably plain girl would. Yes, if she could handle demons and murderers than a little black dress shouldn't be that hard. Trying to figure out the right way to put on make-up, however, was another story. The process was a lot harder than Ino made it look, not to mention doing her hair. Despite the difficulty of looking pretty enough to match the dress, Sakura emerged from the bedroom victorious...only three hours later. She had been able to hear the shouting half-way down the hall.

"YOU will not dictate what I wear, dead last!" Sasuke shouted, face twisted in an indignant snarl.

"Teme, YOU don't have any clothes!" Naruto snapped back.

"No thanks to you." Sasuke hissed.

"You can't go out in a kimono like that! It's practically pajamas!" Naruto shouted.

"I am NOT going!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Bastard!"

"Moron!"

"Coward!"

"Asshole!"

"Guys! Come on!" Sakura shouted.

They both turned to look at her, flushed and angry, only to stare as if she had managed to grow another head in the few hours she had been out of their sight. Sakura blushed and moved back a bit behind the sliding door, biting her lip. The silence was terrible. Naruto's mouth was hanging open and Sasuke had forgotten to scowl. Both looked as though they had seen the ghost of the other's mother...or something. She didn't know what to think.

'D...D...Does it look bad?" She squeaked.

"No." They said together, voices practically cracking.

"It...You...Wow!" Naruto stuttered breathlessly, brushing his hand through his hair. Sasuke said nothing, but looked absolutely dumbstruck nonetheless.

"Thanks, um, so what's the problem? Are we still going?" She asked timidly, still a little uncomfortable.

Sasuke shook himself, snatched the garment from Naruto's hand and stormed off into the bedroom slamming the door behind him. Sakura flinched at the sound. A bit of the new plaster fell from the ceiling. Naruto stared at the closed door with an expression of total shock, hand still thrust into his hair. It was obvious that Sasuke giving up the argument had been the last thing that the jinchuuriki had been expecting. Sakura's eyes widened as she finally took in his appearance.

Even standing there like he had just witnessed some kind of supernatural phenomenon that had scorched one side of his brain, Naruto still looked amazing! The blonde was dressed in loosely fitting black slacks adorned with an autumn orange sash and a silky looking button up shirt worn open at the neck and rolled up to his elbows. The jinchuuriki's golden forearms looked strong and lovely bared as they were by the shirt and the open collar of the garment was very nearly indecent. Naruto's striking blonde hair was clean and soft, combed into soft spikes that practically begged to be touched. Even the rather loud orange flame pattern on the edge of the black shirt was somehow harmonious. His blue eyes, always striking, were bright with fever and somehow there was something erotic in that too. He looked...luscious.

Finally convinced that Sasuke was not going to burst from the bedroom in a murderous rage as soon as his back was turned, Naruto moved to look at her. If it hadn't been Naruto, the expression might have even been a leer. His eyes moved slowly over every visible inch to settle hotly on her face. Sakura blushed and fought the urge to retreat back behind the door.

"It's gorgeous! The black is amazing on you!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"Uh...Thanks. It fits." Sakura said lamely, toying with a tendril of her painstakingly curled hair. Suddenly he was only a breath away and the heat from his body felt like summer wind against her exposed skin.

"You look so beautiful." He whispered, running only the edges of his fingers down her cheek. The gesture was so like Kyuubi's and Sakura briefly wondered how much the two of them were really the same person after all.

"Thank you." She replied, dropping her eyes.

"Don't. Don't ever be embarrassed. You are the most beautiful girl in the whole world, believe it." He murmured, lips close.

"Naruto, I...I love you." She whispered.

"Sakura, I...I've been meaning...I...If you hadn't been so brave that night...I don't know what I would have done. I could never bear to hurt you." Naruto said, the blue of his eyes fluid for a moment.

"I knew it wasn't what you wanted." Sakura smiled and kissed him.

After so long the touch was like water in Gaara's desert, sweet and essential like breathe or sunshine. Naruto yielded to her needy kiss, letting her move against his mouth, his own desire carefully masked. His hands on her shoulders were chaste, but the mere touch of him after so many days of distance made her blood race. His mouth, soft and masculine and everything she had always loved about him from the teasing smirk to the gentle tongue was delicious. Sakura quivered and seriously considered talking him out of the date and back into bed when the door opened.

"Oh, so I guess we are back to this, then." Sasuke said sourly, crossing his arms.

The Uchiha was dressed in a tight sleeveless shirt of midnight blue with a built in mask that he had pulled up over his lower face in the traditional ninja manner. His bare arms were pale and muscular, exposed more than Sakura had ever seen them and there was something slightly seductive in it. The mask too was just the barest bit possessive, sensual in the way that it focused the gaze onto Sasuke's dark eyes, the most expressive part of his face. Sasuke had obviously been dressed for Naruto's pleasure, though on anyone else the shirt would have been nothing more than standard ninja leisure attire. She approved heartily, though it was no wonder why he had been so resistant to wearing it. The pants were standard black cargos, unremarkable in anything other than their fit. Nothing so functional should hug someone's ass as perfectly as these did on Sasuke and the effect was mildly mouth watering. Sakura almost giggled. Apparently the world was allowed a full view of her legs and Sasuke's ass, but not the Uchiha's face. Naruto could be so weird.

"I look like a hooker. Pervert." Sasuke snapped.

"Kakashi-sensei practically wears the exact same thing!" Naruto whined.

"He looks like a hooker too, but he doesn't have the propriety to care." Sasuke huffed.

"Euw! He's old!" Naruto gagged.

"I think you look...really good." Sakura said, her eyes roving over him hungrily. Sasuke shrugged, but blushed just a little over the bridge of his nose.

"Whatever."

"I might have something for you, if you want it." Naruto grinned evilly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Sakura decided that the mask was really rather strategic.

Naruto pulled something from his pocket. Sakura craned her neck to see. With a smirk simply too juvenile to be entirely wicked, Naruto let Sasuke's arm guards unroll from his fingers. The unguarded want in the Uchiha's eyes was unmistakable, after all they were the only things of his own that he had seen since his interrogation. Naruto dangled them, the metal guards clicking enticingly. Sasuke frowned, but stood his ground as the jinchuuriki approached him and hooked a finger into the mask. Sakura decided that the Uchiha must _really_ want those guards since he made no move to punch Naruto as the blonde slid the mask down just below his lips. It was just a kiss, but the quiet seduction of it practically took Sakura's breathe away. The slow slide of Naruto's fingers on the blue fabric was almost sinful and when he finally touched Sasuke's mouth it was with the softness of his tongue. There was heat in the inscrutable darkness of Sasuke's eyes, for once too shocked to be veiled, as Naruto moved his lips over his mouth. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had missed his touch, Sakura thought smugly.

Sasuke allowed himself to be kissed, fists balled by his sides, and Sakura couldn't decide if it was out of anger or simply because the Uchiha's dignity would not survive if he allowed himself to touch Naruto. Such pride, she thought, must be an awful burden. Sasuke snatched the arm guards from Naruto and put them on quickly, tugging the mask back up with a snort. The additional of the arm covers, which rose to well past his elbows, did nothing to reduce the allure of the ensemble. If anything the accentuation of Sasukes muscular upper arms was even more enticing.

"This is gonna be great! We'll go out, have some dinner, some sake, relax! It'll be fun! Nice, safe and normal for once!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin so wide it squinted his eyes.

The dubious set of Sasuke's eyes was as unmistakable as if the man had spoken aloud and Sakura fought not to giggle. Yeah, go out on the town with the demon vessel and Konoha's most wanted murderer, perfectly safe and normal.

OoOoOoO

It was obvious as soon as they walked through the door that the restaurant was fully run by civilians and not an establishment often frequented by ninja. In fact, the only person wearing a mask in the entire place other than Sasuke was an elderly ninja attending his daughter in law's birthday. He looked almost as awkward as Sasuke felt. The worst part was that Naruto had probably chosen the place specifically in deference to him. Sasuke was a known criminal in the ninja community and mask or no mask, everyone would have recognized him. While Sasuke didn't mind being spared a hundred ninja death glares and a possible fight, he was not enjoying being stared at like an exotic animal at the zoo. The old ninja scowled at him and he scowled back before Naruto caught the gesture and waved cordially to the man. It was going to be a long night.

The waiter led them to a table and stared only a fraction of a second too long at the odd threesome. It was obvious that the man was trying to figure out how it all worked. Sasuke was perfectly fine letting the man wonder, but Naruto answered the unspoken question by hugging Sakura to his side and resting a possessive hand on Sasuke's knee. Sasuke twitched, but managed not to break all the bones in Naruto's fingers. The waiter smiled nervously and gave Sasuke an odd look before bowing and running off after menus. Despite how hot and oddly comfortable Naruto's hand was, Sasuke wondered if it was possible to die from sheer mortification. Even the damn civilians now knew to whom he belonged, even if they didn't know why. If he ever got free of Naruto's clever chains, Sasuke promised himself that he would burn the place down.

"Anything to drink? We have excellent sake this evening and also grape wine..." The waiter offered. Sasuke glared murder at the man and Naruto squeezed his knee in warning.

"Two Autumn sake, hot. Sakura?" Naruto asked his smile never budging despite his somewhat precarious grip on a known killer. Sasuke grumbled, but sat back and the waiter was granted another night of breathing.

"Hmmm, I've never had grape wine..." She muttered shyly, looking at the menu.

"A glass of grape wine too, please!" Naruto requested.

"White or red? Or perhaps a blush?" The waiter asked. Naruto looked confused.

"Blush, please." Sakura said, blushing herself. It was so lovely that Sasuke wondered if he would ever be able to look at the beverage the same way again.

"You know...this is nice." Sakura whispered, hugging Naruto's arm. Sasuke grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest.

The close, public environment of the restaurant made Sasuke uneasy and, even though he had long ago moved beyond the opinions of others, he still felt the weight of too many eyes. Naruto's hand seemed to have taken permanent residence on his leg and Sasuke wondered if it would spoil the evening if he slapped it away. The Uchiha knew he shouldn't allow himself to be touched that way, especially in full view of others, but Naruto's hand was the only thing that seemed stable. Without the warm pressure on his leg, Sasuke was not sure what he would do. Someone laughed just a bit too loudly in the booth a few feet away and Sasuke tensed. He knew it was only some drunken customer, but his heart was pounding nonetheless. He was no longer used to being around so many people and the situation made him nervous.

"Easy teme, just relax." Naruto said with a laugh.

"Fuck you." Sasuke hissed under his breath.

Naruto was unperturbed by the words and continued to laugh and joke, his body just a little too close and his hand just a little too casually intimate. Sasuke ruminated on the fact that a year ago he would have murdered the blonde on the spot for less, but Naruto's hand was warm and he was jittery so he supposed that gesture could be tolerated. That and Naruto had already proven to be an incredibly difficult person to kill on the spot. The drinks arrived and Sasuke had to admit that the sake was welcome. It had been a very long time since he had given in to the indulgence of alcohol since it was a stupid, civilian luxury. Any ninja with even an ounce of self respect needed to be alert at all times and libations were an easy way to leave oneself open to attack. Not that focus would help much at the moment and the liquor seemed to soothe his nerves. Either way, he wasn't in any shape to fight with his left leg still a traitorous mystery. Sasuke sighed into his sake and tried not to watch the door too obviously. Naruto moved a little closer and Sasuke fought the urge to lean into his warmth.

"Naruto? I...I didn't expect to see you here." The voice was soft and feminine.

Sasuke raised his eyes to see Hinata Hyuuga on the arm of a very pissed off looking Kiba Inuzuka. The girl was wearing a delicate looking lavender dress and Kiba was wearing something with a lot of fur and leather. The traditional livery of the Inuzuka clan relied less on color and more on texture to make its statement. The statement, Sasuke decided, was that Kiba was closely related to a goat.

"Hinata-chan! It _has_ been a while!" Naruto gushed.

"Yes. I hope you are well." The girl said shyly.

"You too, I hear Hanabi can be quite the terror." Sakura said with a smile.

"She is still young. She will one day be a great warrior, but until then it is difficult for a girl her age to understand patience." Hinata replied with a smile of her own and regally polite bow.

"I know you teach her well." Sakura said, inclining her head and blushing a little.

Sasuke was struck suddenly by the realization that the two women were now in the same social class. As Naruto's fiance, Sakura was now considered a matriarch. The civilian born girl probably had no idea of her new status, but depending upon the success of the Uzumaki family, she might very well be looked upon by the other clans as a queen. Even now, Sakura would be considered a clan head of the rising Uzumaki family, a family that had absorbed all the power of the legendary Uchihas. No wonder the Hyuuga's bow was so low... The thought made him feel an uncomfortable combination of pride, indignation, affection and anger. Apparently Naruto and Sakura had succeeded in driving him completely insane. Kiba was still looking murderous, but Sasuke decided to let Naruto handle the situation. He was tired from feeling so much and Inuzuka's grudge was merely an annoyance anyway. If the boy's uncle had been a better ninja, he wouldn't be dead.

"So you've trained it enough to be out in public. I'm impressed." Kiba said darkly. Sasuke sipped his sake, looking bored.

"Kiba!" Hinata chided, blushing hotly.

"Yes, well it looks like Hinata-chan still has her work cut out for her on that front." Naruto replied too warmly to be really offensive. Kiba relaxed a fraction, but still shot Sasuke a glare.

"Yeah, I guess so... " He replied, a little abashed. Naruto smiled.

"Kiba-san means no disrespect!" Hinata said quickly, bowing deeply.

"It's ok. Some things are hard to get over." Sakura said gently. Kiba nodded stiffly, keeping his eyes off of Sasuke.

"So...I didn't realize you were dating!" Naruto said, his smile a little too relieved as he tried to turn the conversation to more conventional topics.

"Yes...well..." Hinata looked away. Sasuke had a powerful suspicion that the jinchuuriki's attempt at tact would be a magnificent failure.

"Her father does not approve. He would forbid the whole thing if he thought he could get away with it without starting a clan war. That is why we came to this restaurant instead of one of the ninja ones." Kiba explained bluntly.

"Father is very traditional..." Hinata whispered miserably.

"What does that mean?" Sakura asked, confused. Sasuke had a fairly good idea.

"Well...you see...I'm...I'm..." Hinata stammered, blushing more heavily every minute. Kiba flushed angrily and put a possessive hand against her hip.

"They've already sold you." Sasuke said coldly.

"Yes." Hinata nodded miserably.

"What? Sold?" Naruto squawked indignantly.

"He means that Hinata has been promised to someone already." Kiba said tightly and Sasuke could feel the hurt behind the statement.

"Father has arranged my marriage to Neji." Hinata said, holding tightly to Kiba's furry coat.

"What? Euw! Isn't he your cousin?" Naruto exclaimed, aghast.

"Father is very traditional." Hinata sighed.

"It is common practice in the high houses. If a house is large enough, they often prefer to keep the power directed into the same line." Sasuke explained, "It is a difficult duty. I am sorry." Sasuke said and meant it. Naruto stared at him.

"T...Thank you." Hinata whispered, startled.

"You...Did you?" Sakura asked, suddenly horrified.

"No. I was too young. I had an uncle, however, who was forced to marry a cousin instead of the woman he loved." Sasuke said a bit too quickly.

"I guess you_ would_ understand such a stupid and outdated tradition." Kiba conceded, a bit tartly. Hinata looked sad.

"I'm sure it will work out Hinata. Love is a powerful thing." Sakura said, looking lovingly at both Sasuke and Naruto.

Her gaze made Sasuke feel warm and suddenly it was a little hard to breathe. He nodded mutely and dropped his eyes back into the sake. The feeling was too intense, too much after so many years of trying to feel nothing. Naruto smiled warmly at them and Hinata looked a little better.

"What old Hiashi doesn't know can't hurt him! Don't give up, you don't have to settle for things." Naruto affirmed with a grin. Kiba smiled pointily, his long canines very obvious.

"I don't intend to." The Inuzuka heir promised. Hinata smiled.

"Well, our table must be ready." Hinata urged softly, hugging Kiba's arm affectionately.

"Yeah." He said, gently guiding her away with a fond smile.

They moved away and Sasuke let out a breathe he hadn't realized he had been holding. Violence had been narrowly avoided and by a mere statement of empathy of all things. Sasuke decided that he had never had a stranger dinner in his entire life. Naruto was looking more thoughtful than usual, but Sakura was smiling and reading aloud from the menu. The jinchuuriki smiled at her. Sasuke relaxed a little, allowing himself to enjoy the bright cadence of her voice. Naruto listened to her talk, nodding a bit, and Sasuke found that he approved of the jinchuuriki's shirt...especially the way that it bared his powerful forearms. They ordered dinner and another round of drinks. Sakura was looking a little pink, but her smile was mesmerizing. Naruto, however, was obviously still examining some secret thought.

"What happened, to your uncle?" The demon vessel asked suddenly.

"What?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"The uncle, the one married to a cousin he didn't love." Naruto clarified, his blue eyes focused and very intense.

"Naruto! The poor man probably passed away in the massacre..." Sakura hissed tightly. Sasuke looked away.

"Well..." Naruto grumbled, obviously not satisfied by that explanation.

"No...he...he didn't die there. He, well..." Sasuke sighed, glad the mask was hiding his discomfort.

"Well?" Naruto prodded.

"He was an excellent ninja and took many missions, all of the highest class. My uncle took only the most dangerous missions and never shrank from a fight. Eventually he died during one of them. He was well respected by all." Sasuke said tonelessly, the words flowing more easily with the drink.

"He wanted to die." Naruto decided, sipping his sake. Sasuke frowned.

"Maybe he was just brave." The Uchiha countered.

"Do you really believe that?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes hard.

"No." Sasuke whispered, looking away.

Whatever might have been said next was interrupted by the beaming waiter bringing their dinner. Despite his initial impression of the restaurant, Sasuke reconsidered burning it down after he tasted the duck. The tender, fatty little bird had been cooked in some kind of sweet red onion sauce which perfectly complemented the saffron parsnips it was served with. Sasuke had always tried to keep himself to simple, nutritious food, but he couldn't deny that the dish was delicious. Sakura's scallops in lichee and white peach reduction was equally pleasing. Naruto's noodles were easily as good as any ramen, but he barely touched the food. Sasuke didn't like Naruto's lack of appetite, it reminded him of uncomfortable things and made his chest hurt a little. He ate some of the noodles just so that their quantity wouldn't bother him so much.

The rest of the meal was taken over companionable chatter and by the end of it Sasuke was just drunk enough to laugh a bit at some of the stories Sakura was telling. Naruto's head had somehow ended up resting against his shoulder and Sasuke liked the weight of it too much to move. People stared, but Sasuke found that a simple glare was enough to deter most of the curious glances. Apparently dating out in public was more simple than he had initially thought and, despite himself, Sasuke was enjoying the outing. How many years had it been since he had sat and shared a meal with people whom he actually liked? And he _did_ like them. As awful as it was to admit, he had missed Naruto's cheerful determination and Sakura's tender empathy. He had buried the feelings deep into the darkness in his heart, running from Konoha and bathing in the blood of his enemies, trying to purge away the affection. Yet, for something that he had always viewed as a weakness, the feelings were incredibly difficult to dislodge.

Driven to prove his invulnerability, Sasuke had promised to kill them both and had almost succeeded...but he had never thought beyond that. Kakashi had asked what was next, asked what he would do when there were only corpses left and...Sasuke didn't know. He wondered, madly, if after he was through burning away the wanting, the desire, the friendship, the love if there would be anything left at all. By Kami, he never thought that he would survive this long and Kakashi had made the horizon look bleak and very distant. Perhaps the long road in darkness was all that he deserved but...what if things were not the way they seemed? Sasuke decided that Sakura's laughter was beautiful and that, if only for tonight, he would just listen and let the sound in. Sasuke would bask in Naruto's warmth and simply _be_. Just once. Just because he had to know if it was possible that he had been wrong...

By the end of dessert Sakura was sitting in Naruto's lap and he was practically dozing beneath the jinchuuiki's arm. The conversation and the sake and being away from the house had somehow broken the brittle tension between them and it was like he could breathe again. It was sad, pathetic, but Sasuke had missed Naruto's touch, had missed the easy way Sakura made him feel wanted. They paid the bill and Naruto practically carried them out to the waiting riksha. Sasuke had never taken a cab, very few places were too far for a ninja to walk, but his feet were unsteady even without the alcohol and Sakura was wearing heels. The whole thing was so silly that he had to laugh and when Naruto and Sakura turned to look at him in shock, their expressions just made him laugh harder. Sasuke laughed so hard that tears sprang into his eyes and he didn't stop. The laughter was like a warm ocean, vast and unstoppable, bubbling up from within him in tingling waves. Something hard and rusty inside his soul seemed to have finally broken, freeing a part of himself that he had forgotten was even there.

The stars overhead were bright in the cold air and he snuggled closer to Naruto's body for warmth, brushing his fingers over the satiny skin of Sakura's bare leg. The jinchuuriki looked like he was about to have a seizure, but Sakura was nearly as drunk as he was and so had no objection to kissing Sasuke over Naruto's chest. Her mouth was soft and strong, her lips moving against his own with confidence and a hint of aggression. Sasuke moaned in want as he plunged his tongue into her mouth, engaging her and enjoying the way she melted in surrender to his force. The kiss was deep and heavy, filled with need. The sensation between them was electric, hot and wonderful. Sasuke had not let himself to be this..this...happy since his parents had been murdered. He had dragged around the pain of their loss for so long because...because he had to...and now the weight felt so much lighter, almost nothing. Tomorrow he would reach for the pain and anger again, but tonight, just because he didn't want to go on without knowing, he would let the dead sleep.

Sakura's hands were hot against the bare skin of his upper arms, her nails sharp and a little desperate. Sasuke loved her touch, reaching boldly across Naruto's lap to cup one of her breasts through the dress, his other hand tangled in blonde's hair. The jinchuuriki had shifted so that Sasuke was straddling one of his legs, probably a ploy to avoid tumbling out of the vehicle, but the added friction was delicious. With a throaty snarl, Sasuke ground his body against Naruto loving the heat that crept into the jinchuuriki's eyes at his touch. Sakura was undulating like a large, gorgeous cat under Naruto's caresses and Sasuke wanted to be touched too so he pulled down the mask and bit Naruto on the throat. The jinchuuriki winced, bleeding just a little before the wound closed. The blood trickling down Naruto's smooth golden throat was lovely too. Sasuke shrugged unapologetically at Naruto's petulant scowl and moved wantonly against his knee. Naruto smiled a little awkwardly, startled by Sasuke's demeanor, unsure if he should be afraid. The worry didn't stop the jinchuuriki from running his fingers into Sasuke's hair, however. The almost clawed fingers on his scalp sent fire racing down the Uchiha's spine and a hungry groan escaped his lips. Sakura was lapping at the closing bite, soothing it with her tongue and the riksha driver was moving at a perilous speed to avoid the orgy threatening to occur in the back of his vehicle. Sasuke laughed at that and at Naruto's blush and at Sakura's drunken cursing that sounded oddly seductive.

The rest was a blur of starlight and skin and laughter, sweet and a little dizzy. Suddenly they were home and trying to walk to the bedroom while tearing Naruto's clothing off at the same time. The jinchuuriki laughed nervously, trying to navigate the hallway and escape the groping at the same time. Naruto was still looking at little trapped, both aroused and scared, when they finally neared the bedroom. Sasuke wasn't scared though. He wasn't afraid of anything and Naruto should have known better than to wear that shirt. One of Sakura's shoes came off in the kitchen and another in the hall. Thus freed from the precarious heels, the girl set to molesting Naruto with amazing determination and Sasuke took advantage of her rampage to run his hands over her legs. Short dresses, he decided, were much less frivolous than he had once thought.

Suddenly Sasuke wanted her to be naked, to see her glorious pale curves against Naruto's hard muscles and to touch them both. Sasuke hooked his fingers roughly into the laces at the back of the dress and pulled, hard, just as Sakura climbed into Naruto's arms. The black fabric parted with a resonant ripping sound as the girl turned in Naruto's grasp to haul Sasuke to her mouth by the mask. Sasuke was glad Naruto was strong since the ensuing web of limbs and lips and bodies would have been impossible in any situation involving normal human beings. Days of lonely frustration poured from her lips as Sakura kissed him, thrusting her tongue aggressively into his mouth as she tore the buttons off of Naruto's shirt. They shared a messy three way kiss with too many teeth and Naruto pushed Sakura against the bedroom door, moving against her partially naked body with a tortured groan.

"You..." The jinchuuriki panted, "seriously can't hold your booze."

"It was your...stupid idea...moron." Sasuke hissed and kissed him.


	10. Chapter 10

_Just in case there is anyone left out there who doesn't realize that this is a very graphically erotic story, here it is again! We will be experiencing some incredibly graphic and risky sex involving demon chakra transfer i.e. not for the faint of heart! If you have problems with graphic sexual situations...you are reading the WRONG story! Thank you to Wolftracks17 for the continuing support and to Stormingnight for being with me from the start of this weird and wonderful journey. I have enjoyed every minute of writing this story, odd as it is, thank you for enjoying it with me! Enjoy!_

Naruto was afraid. Afraid because he was not ready and because he was not sure exactly what to do and if anything went wrong...nothing could go wrong. The need burned within him, but the kitsune vessel knew he could not go on living knowing that Sakura or Sasuke had died by his hand. Perhaps that made him weak, at least in Sasuke's estimation, but the jinchuuriki knew what he could tolerate and what he could not. Life without his lovers was no longer an option and he was quickly running out of options. The heat had weakened his mental control to the point that Kyuubi could escape at any time and not only to go after his teammates. The demon's motivations were largely a mystery and Naruto knew no one in Konoha was safe if the fox was free. For now, Kyuubi was contained by the barest of margins, held back only by the elemental beast's uncanny love and respect for Sakura. Naruto knew that it would not wait forever, the fact that the Fox had waited so long was practically a miracle in itself.

Kyuubi had found something in Sakura beyond what it recognized in a mate, something deeper, a vast ocean of feeling attached to a loving memory. A memory that Naruto was not privy to see. Kyuubi was impressed with Sasuke and longed to dominate him, but as far as the fox was concerned, the Uchiha was a prized possession and nothing more. When the Fox thought of Sakura, it was with such infinite and pure tenderness that it took Naruto's breath away. In all the years he had been bonded with the beast, Naruto had never realized that it had the capacity to love that way. That it could love at all. He knew that Kyuubi felt a powerful animal loyalty to mates and even to him on some level, but Naruto had not seen anything in the demon's nature to suggest that it loved the way he did. Truly, Kyuubi did _not_ love the way he did: It loved with greater sincerity, depth and meaning than a human ever could. The realization made him question everything about who the Fox really was, _what_ it really was...

Sakura brushed her teeth over the ridge of his erection and the worry disappeared in a blinding flash of friction and heat and pleasure. He groaned. Her tongue was hot and moist against the fevered flesh, the sensation almost painful in its intensity. Despite the fact that Sakura had never given anyone a blow job before in her life, the girl was astoundingly good at it. She lathed the velvety flat of her tongue over the underside of his shaft and the jinchuuriki practically screamed only to be silenced by another gasp as she sucked the swollen head into her hot mouth. She toyed with him, played, boldly exploring the texture of his body. Naruto called upon every ounce of his control to hold himself together and failed anyway. Focusing solely on holding back for Sakura's safety left Sasuke unhindered. Sasuke unhindered was always a very dangerous thing.

The last of the Uchiha clan lapped aggressively at his nipples, his lack of skill made up for by sheer ferocity. The raven haired youth licked, nipped and sucked the delicate flesh until Naruto could barely breathe. Sasuke's right hand was tight around Naruto's shaft, holding the stiffened flesh for Sakura to suckle, while the other hand was knotted aggressively in the jinchuurki's hair. Sakura moaned, driving her tongue deeply into the sensitive slit of Naruto's penis. His breath caught hard in his throat as a deep quiver settled into his heated flesh. Sasuke groaned hotly against his chest and suddenly Naruto's hands were no longer fisted in the sheets, but cupping Sasuke's erection through the pants and Sakura's naked breast. The Uchiha moaned and thrust against him and Naruto's head swam with the heat of them both. Sakura sucked him, hard, and Naruto arched back against the bed, eyes squinted shut tightly. His body strained with the effort, but he narrowly avoided cumming in her mouth. The girl loved him, but the jinchuuriki was fairly sure she wouldn't enjoy swallowing his seed without any warning. He _would_ have warned her except that Sasuke was now trying to shove his tongue down Naruto's throat and all he could manage was a muffled squeak.

The dress, now shredded beyond all recognition of its former glory, clung stubbornly to Sakura's hips and Sasuke was still mostly dressed. The only person fully naked was Naruto and as far as the jinchuuriki could tell, nothing was going to change until either Sakura or Sasuke saw fit to release their grip on him. Whatever had come over Sasuke was still a mystery to him and Naruto had worried, at first, that the passion was merely drunken confusion. Still, he had seen Sasuke drunk once before and knew that the Uchiha's control was solid even when inebriated. Sakura looked at him through her lashes, her green eyes dark with passion as she slid her tongue over his flesh. He shivered as she lapped at him, her mouth both hot and stimulating. Naruto had never seen anything more erotic in his life. Sasuke bit him savagely on the mouth and Naruto knew that he couldn't resist them any longer.

Sasuke's mouth was awkward and aggressive, his sharp teeth finding Naruto's lips again and again. Despite the pain, or perhaps even because of it, Naruto felt his arousal building. He squeezed the hot hardness between Sasuke's thighs and felt a deep rush of satisfaction as the Uchiha whimpered against his abused mouth. There was a struggle, a war of dominance, and for the barest moment Naruto wondered if Kyuubi was wrong about his ability to control Sasuke. The other man's posture was confident and threatening, his body unyielding and Naruto was practically pinned beneath him. They growled, teeth snapping. Their tongues fought, writhing together until, somehow, Sasuke yielded to Naruto's force. With no small amount of trepidation, Naruto thrust his tongue possessively into Sasuke's mouth, cupping his rival's skull tightly in one hand, but the dark haired ninja only trembled in his arms and did not resist. The tiny show of submission lit Naruto's blood aflame and he wanted, he _needed_, to finish it…to make Sasuke his own forever. He pulled back, terrified by the force of the need, and looked into Sasuke's flushed face. The Uchiha's dark eyes were huge and filled with heat, but there was no fear. None. Naruto took a breath, resting his forehead against Sasuke's, and made a decision.

The jinchuuriki moved, sitting up and forcing Sasuke back onto his heals, moving the hand that had somehow tangled itself in Sakura's hair. The girl looked up at him, her lips red and swollen, face flushed and wanting as Naruto pulled her into his arms. Sasuke tore the rest of the mangled dress from her body as Naruto kissed her passionately. There was a quiet moment of trembling and Naruto reached out a hand to cup her sex through the thin film of her underwear. He looked into her eyes, trying not to let his own fear creep into the gaze.

"Tell me Sakura." Naruto whispered, almost too low to hear.

"You _know_." She groaned.

"I need it. I have to hear it. Do you want this?"

"Yes! I told you! I want you. Please." She snarled and kissed him.

Naruto surrendered to the sweetness of her mouth, kissing her as he had not allowed himself to do since their first night in the Uchiha manor. Her tongue was soft and strong, only relinquishing to him after he was fully engaged. When she did surrender, it was with a deep shiver as she fully exposed the ivory column of her throat to his tingling lips. Her submission was delicious and exciting and he knew her body so well. Everything about her was luscious. Her flesh was soft and yielding in his arms, her nipples soft against his lips as he nibbled at the tender peaks. The scent of her was driving him into the scarlet heat, the touch of her electric and he couldn't get enough. With a snarl he tore the underwear from her body with a single, razor sharp claw. Naruto could hear Sasuke gasp as his teeth lengthened and the red flooded his vision. The jinchuuriki reached for the Uchiha and pulled him down against Sakura, shredding his shirt in the process. Sasuke grunted a little in protest as he was pulled hard against Naruto's chest.

He thrust them both beneath his body, setting his teeth against the soft, pale vulnerability of Sakura's throat and his claws against Sasuke's carotid artery. The steady thrumming of the Uchiha's pulse beneath his fingers was like a tyko drum, thundering passion into his already fevered brain. Sasuke snarled and struggled a bit, but it only aroused Naruto more. He turned away from the gorgeous, rose colored curves of his female to put his weight onto the fierce, darksome male. Sasuke was strong, but his strength was like that of a river against the might of the ocean and Naruto easily pushed him down and tore the rest of the clothing from his graceful body. Sakura purred soothingly against Sasuke's ear, her body undulating against both of them and the wonderful friction was almost painful against Naruto's sensitive erection.

With a glare that made Naruto chuckle, Sasuke turned to Sakura and kissed her. Satisfied with his surrender, slight though it was, Naruto began to kiss them as well. He lapped at Sasuke's nipples, nibbling sharply at the other man's throat to remind the proud Uchiha of his position in the pack. Naruto's mind was cloudy and hot, filled only with desire and with instinct. He moved low to suck on Sasuke's hardened length as his fingers found Sakura's intimate heat. Sasuke, gasped against Sakura's lips, arching into the the touch. She, too, whimpered as her tender folds parted around his fingers. He stroked her, careful of the wicked claws tipping his fingers, eager to have her. Sasuke's fingers, too, were on her body, moving gently against her clitoris. Sakura moaned and writhed beneath them, cumming in a rush of heat against their hands. Sasuke shivered as he tasted it, eyes wide with feeling. Naruto raised his head to watch them, each fierce and beautiful, breathing together in aching expectation. The jinchuuriki rumbled hungrily, licking his fingers clean, savoring the delicacy and indomitable spirit of Sakura's essence. He bent to the Uchiha then, letting his one-time rival's heated flesh once again slip wetly into his mouth. Her hands were stroking Sasuke's body even as Naruto sucked him and he knew Sasuke would not last long.

The only crack in Sasuke's frozen armor was that he had never really allowed himself to be touched and now the act, and the emotion it aroused, easily overwhelmed the Uchiha. His flesh was too sensitive to resist stimulation like the kind they were giving, and when he moaned Naruto smiled around the captured cock in his mouth. He played Sasuke's body, letting his tongue flick roughly against the swollen head of the other man's penis, watching as the proud dark haired ninja blushed and moaned and lost himself in the feeling. Naruto sucked him, hard, letting the edges of his fangs brush the tender flesh until Sasuke's body was arched like a loaded bow and his breathe was fast and heavy. The jinchuuriki pushed the muscle of his tongue into the slit of Sasuke's penis, purring with satisfaction as the raven thrashed against him. The vessel knew from Sakura's clever lovemaking how odd and wonderful the deep pleasure of the gesture could be. He thrust his powerful tongue into the tender opening until Sasuke whimpered, the Uchiha's hand trembling in his hair. With another throaty rumble, Naruto lapped the sensitive flesh, soothing it after his invasion and moved lower to Sasuke's balls. The Uchiha choked back a shriek. Naruto could feel Sasuke tightening against his lips and he moved his mouth to catch the hot seed just as the other man screamed and came into his mouth.

His essence was musky, the scent filled with strength, determination and a very deep inner vulnerability that Naruto was eager to protect. It was all that Sasuke was and, though he had tasted him before, Naruto had never been able to discern so much information from the act. Some part of his mind knew that he was very close to the Fox now, the animal spirit melding with his own nature. Once, the fact would have terrified him, but now all he could feel was deep gratification as Sasuke looked at him flushed and unguarded. Sasuke, his Sasuke. The Uchiha's usually cold face was open, his expression somewhere between ecstasy and pain, tears streaking his cheeks. Naruto loved him then, even more than he had before, because Sasuke could not hide from him any longer. Whether he knew it now or not, the last of the Uchiha was _his_ and would be forever.

Naruto had not swallowed all of Sasuke' seed and turned to Sakura with it still on his tongue. He kissed her, letting a taste of Sasuke's essence into her mouth, eager for her reaction. At first the girl was surprised and drew her lips back from her teeth in shock, but then her tongue was lapping experimentally against his own. She moaned and it was approval enough. He would have them both.

OoOoOoO

Sasuke lay panting, his body still trembling, as Naruto released him from the powerful three-way embrace to focus on Sakura. A chilly shard of jealousy pricked him, but Sasuke was grateful too. He needed a bit of space, a little time to think. Sasuke didn't know what he had expected when he gave himself leeway to simply respond to his own emotions, but this...this was too much. He was not ready and perhaps Naruto sensed it too. Or perhaps not. The jinchuuriki had changed, his blue eyes scarlet with demon chakra and his teeth long and sharp as he stalked over Sakura's rosy body. Sasuke had known the razor thrill of those fearsome teeth against his most intimate flesh and yet instead of fear, the Uchiha had felt only exhilaration at being so close to such raw power. Maybe Naruto had been right after all, that day they had fought. The same day they had touched each other intimately for the first time Naruto had said that power was his price. A price Naruto could easily pay. Maybe it was true. The thought made Sasuke uncomfortable, but he needed to know. He needed to know what it was he wanted.

His flesh was still singing as he watched Naruto take Sakura's nipples into his mouth, forcing the girl into a glorious arch as he sucked the tender flesh, first one and then the other. The demon was rough, possessive and utterly unstoppable in his passion, pulling most of Sakura's breast into his mouth. Naruto rumbled around the soft globe, the sound sending shivers of desire and submission ricocheting down Sasuke's spine. There was something about _that_ sound that made Sasuke want to surrender, to give in and release his control. The revelation terrified him, nothing had ever made him feel that way before. Even worse, the feeling was seductive, tempting... Sakura must have felt it too. The girl was fully open beneath Naruto, her chin tipped up to the side and her legs spread around Naruto's stroking fingers. Her body was all acceptance and want, no opposition in her form at all. The heated flush of her body was so lovely that Sasuke felt his spent flesh twitch in response. She shivered as the jinchuuriki moved lower to run his long tongue over her sex. Crouched over her body like some golden griffin over his prey, Naruto was gorgeous too. Beautiful and deadly as all demons were.

Before, when they were children, the golden haired pariah had only been a nuisance and later a dangerous emotional distraction. Sasuke had never noticed the balance and power of the jinchuurki's muscular limbs or how close to the color of autumn sunshine his hair really was. Women had always thrown themselves at Sasuke, though he was reasonably certain that only Sakura had ever really loved him, but Naruto had been largely ignored. Now Sasuke wondered if it had been some sort of jutsu, a spell to hide Uzumaki's appearance from the world. How in the name of Kami had everyone missed it? Sasuke had been, at least until recently, mainly asexual with a few traitorous heterosexual urges and even _he_ could see that Naruto was a great beauty. The jinchuuriki's features were strong and a little bit exotic from his mother's foreign blood, his mouth full and expressive. His eyes, even deeper blue than the deepest part of the sky on a summer day were filled with all the emotion of Naruto's tumultuous being. Everything in the jinchuuriki's coloring was striking and unique, the gold and the blue both vibrant and harmonious. Why had he never noticed? Sasuke let his eyes wander over the compelling curve of the jinchuuriki's back, down to his muscular legs and between them to the darkened hardness of his cock. Desire struck him and with it came a deep fear too.

To love Naruto was to surrender to him, there was no other way. Jinchuuriki weren't built like humans and they never simply stopped loving anyone. Kakashi once told him that about Naruto, that the boy seemed simple because he only knew one way to love. Sasuke now knew that with that love came a kind of ownership too. The vessels were creatures somewhere between demons and men and their needs were unique. If he let Naruto have him, then Sasuke would never be free. He would be bound the to blonde, in thrall to him until death claimed him or Naruto succumbed to an enemy. The love of a demon was absolute and so was the commitment that came with loving him. Sasuke knew Naruto could force him, _would_ force him to keep him close and so the choice was no longer his. Perhaps the decision was not really all that important anyway, but the thought frightened him nonetheless.

A needy sigh shook him from the thoughts and back to the lovers beside him. Naruto's body was quivering with need, a sparkling sheen of sweat making his skin look molten in the low light. Sakura's hands were around Naruto's stiffened flesh, her fingers tugging and stroking as Naruto moved over her, placing his hands on either side of her head. He moved, poised before her dewy opening, nuzzling her neck aggressively. Suddenly Sasuke couldn't breathe. On some level he had not really expected Naruto to do it. Even after the jinchuuriki's words, Sasuke had not fully considered the idea that all their lives might be in the balance that night. Sakura cried out as he moved into her, the girl's face a mixture of pleasure and pain. Naruto moaned, the sound barely human, as he sunk himself into her heat and began to move. Sakura was gripping him, her body coated in a fine film of sweat, lower lip tight between her teeth. Sasuke could smell blood and arousal too and hear his heartbeat like thunder in his ears. A deep, crushing worry filled Sasuke's soul as tears sprang from Sakura's eyes. Naruto had said it was dangerous and, of course, that meant nothing to him but...Sakura. Naruto, lost to the heat, only moved to penetrate her more deeply and even if he had been able to move, the Uchiha knew that he could not stop them. Sakura whimpered, but only held onto Naruto more fiercely. Their bodies moved slickly on the bed, the rhythm awkward and strained. Sasuke bit his lip until it bled, trying to master the icy uncertainty that moved deep in his soul. His chest hurt. He could not imagine life without her, the Uchiha was not sure that there _was_ life without her...

Sasuke remembered how to breathe again as he saw the tense lines of Sakura's limbs relax, the pleasure flooding her flesh once again as she adjusted to Naruto's invasion. The girl was still tentative and stiff as her eyes became warm and fluid again. The jinchuuriki slowed, soothing the kunoichi softly with his tongue as she overcame the pain. There was a breathless moment and suddenly they were moving in perfect harmony together, groaning in pleasure. A soft sound of surprise escaped her lips as Naruto adjusted the angle, his breathing harsh as he moved inside her. Sakura's body still trembled, but her eyes were glazed in heat once again as the tight pain gave way fully to intimate pleasure. She moaned, moving beneath Naruto to deepen his strokes, her fingers biting deeply into his back. They writhed together, gasping unintelligible words, moving in a primal kind of synchrony. The depth of it made Sasuke's breathe come fast.

The jinchuuriki sunk his claws into the pale flesh of Sakura's hips, holding the girl's body to his own as he pounded against her. Sakura screamed in ecstasy, coming hotly in Naruto's embrace and Sasuke could not tear his eyes away. Each stroke was electric, each movement charged with erotic energy. She trembled, tensed and came again as Naruto bit Sakura savagely on the juncture of her shoulder and neck. The wound bled, bled too much, but it was if the girl was immune to pain. Sakura moaned and bucked against Naruto, her pale curves arching against him like waves beneath the moon. Naruto pulled her up to meet him, arching her body, snarling huskily into her hair.

Sasuke bit back a cry as Sakura's ecstatic cries became a scream so shrill that the sound was almost beyond his hearing. Something was wrong. Naruto held her like a vice as she writhed against him, thrashing like a rabbit caught in a snare. There was sensuality in their movement, but violence too and it hurt him to watch it. Sasuke started towards her, but Naruto hissed warningly against her flesh and he was forced to back away. The look in the jinchuuriki's eyes was desperate and determined, focused in a way more than human. The girl threw her head back, her body straining, face still flushed with passion. She cried out, the sound like bells and breaking glass. Sakura's eyes rolled back into her head. Something about the shivering of her limbs and the tension in her movements made Sasuke's gut turn over. He had seen that once before…when Orochimaru had tried experimentally to possess a new body, but it was not quite the same. Sakura moved _into_ Naruto's arms and not away from him, her body like a whirlpool of straining muscles. There was something more than sex, more than pain in her expression as she turned sightless eyes to stare past Sasuke, through him. Her expression was of awe, agony and ecstatic surrender combined, the look both alien and frightening. The girl's breathing was labored and erratic, her cheeks flushed and her lips almost blue as she moaned and came again. Sasuke felt the air shift, growing hotter and fear froze his blood.

He could feel the chakra building, setting his hair on end, of force of life energy beyond what he had ever seen. There was more energy than should ever fit into a person, more energy than Sasuke had ever known in anything other than the sun itself. Bracing himself for the agony, Sasuke activated his sharingan, feeling the chakra burn his nerves as his vision was flooded with red. The whole world was scarlet and Sakura was bathed in it, drenched in it, her own chakra barely a flicker in her chest. Naruto's chakra, Kyuubi's chakra, flooded her pathways like lightning through the branches of a burning tree. Her chakra pathways were scorched, burned by the endless scarlet ocean forcing itself into her. She would never survive that…no one could survive that…

Still, Naruto was moving into her and she against him, their bodies colliding again and again. With each thrust, the red chakra pulsed into her, driving her own life force back. She gasped, trying to hold on, but the boiling red sea of Naruto's energy surged within…and her light went out. Sasuke gasped, his eyes aching, searching for Sakura's cool green soul among the scarlet. She was gone.

OoOoOoO

It was too much. She was full, full beyond the deepest fullness that she had ever known. Her body was full with him, moving to stretch more and the limit long past, but her soul was close to breaking. He filled her, the energy like water and lightning, hot and too heavy. She struggled, gasped for air, tried to hold on. The tide surged within her, never ceasing, never halting in its flow. It burned as the pathways of her soul were torn and became numb only to burn again as her soul was torn open again. The chakra flayed her and burned the wounds only to open them again. The pain was terrible. Worse than any pain she had ever felt, but there was pleasure too. Pleasure more vast than her nerves could even carry to her panicked mind. Her body was filled with it, the golden ecstasy pulsing into every sense, even as she was torn apart. The agony and pleasure crashed against each other, equally strong, shredding her mental control away.

Sakura had not planned to resist him, she did not _want_ to resist him and yet the quivering terror of her instincts was difficult control. He was there, everywhere, where nothing except her own being had ever been before. The feeling was alien and her body fought to reject it. She was not thinking, only feeling, lost in the trance of his body and his energy and his soul, all of it too much and not enough. She came in an ecstatic rush, but the flood did not cease and only grew deeper. He was smothering her, filling her lungs with water and her blood with fire. Her heart labored, skipped a beat and resumed its beating with an agonizing lurch. She could not see. She could not hear. There was nothing left in her entire being except Naruto and the burning flood he brought with him.

She fought him, mindless and unaware, and was overwhelmed. He burned, burned her away and in a sudden flash of pleasure and terrible pain there was nothing left. Darkness fell, soft and cold. Her mind was heavy, letting go, surrendering to the seductive weight of the blackness. She was floating, feeling weightless and warm, the light a dull twinkle above her. She could reach for it, if she wanted to, but Sakura was tired...so tired...

OoOoOoO

Sasuke screamed. He screamed and bled and screamed and it was not enough. She was gone. The girl he had thrown away. The girl he had tried to kill. The girl he had never wanted to love, the plain girl he had brushed off like dirt. The girl he had loved anyway. The girl who had grown into a powerful, fantastically beautiful woman. The woman who had forgiven him. Who loved him. She was gone. How could she be gone? She was strong! The damned demon had said so itself! How could she have died? Sakura, Naruto's precious flower and his own personal salvation. She was gone.

Her body was limp and white in Naruto's arms. Naruto was screaming, roaring as he came, his face a mask of agony and ecstasy. His body was all bulging muscles, arched magnificently, the tension of his muscles holding her together. She floated, his strength making it almost look like there was still animation in the still limbs. When Naruto let her go...Sasuke knew she would fall apart. He could not bear it, to see her like this, only a shell. Without the soul to fill her, she was all wrong, white and awkward and ugly. It was not fair! Sakura was beautiful, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. That white, limp, hideous thing was not her! It just couldn't be. How had he ever wanted this? What if Sasuke had been the one to hold her this way, had been the one to drive the light out of her eyes? How had he ever thought that he should kill her? He would take it back, everything, a thousand times over just to see her smile again.

Naruto's eyes were clearing, the scarlet draining from him, replaced with horror. The jinchuuriki shook her gently, his blue eyes shocked and unbelieving. Naruto shook his head and his expression was filled with such terrible grief and pain that Sasuke knew he had lost both of them. The knowledge was like a hammer blow to his heart and he screamed again. Naruto couldn't go on without her. If there had been any doubt of that in Sasuke's heart, it was now gone. Naruto looked like he couldn't believe it, as if he were waking to a terrible nightmare instead of escaping one. He looked the way Itachi had looked that night, the night when his brother had killed everyone, like reality was too much, too gruesome. Naruto looked like a man about to lose his faith, a faith that had never even been shaken before. There was madness in Naruto's eyes, behind the pain. Madness, Sasuke knew, that would turn against himself. Sasuke hoped in a fit of true insanity, that Naruto might take him with him when the vessel left the world...

Darkness crowded close, but the feel of the air was still charged with tension. Sasuke knew Naruto hadn't accepted her death. How could he? He had not seen it happen the way Sasuke had. Naruto was looking at her, the last desperate shred of hope shining in his eyes. Sasuke was not sure he could survive watching the last light go out.

"Sakura? Sakura, baby, don't go. Sakura, please wake up." Naruto whispered, his voice choked. He rested his forehead against hers.

"Naruto...she couldn't...I think..." Sasuke began.

"No! She's too strong!" Naruto snarled, stroking her face.

"Naruto..."

"She'll make it. I believe in her."

"She's gone! I saw her go!" Sasuke shrieked miserably.

"No." Naruto's face was pale and hopeless.

"She's gone."

"No."

"She's dead." Sasuke said and the words were like ashes on his tongue.

"No! Sakura! Sakura! No!" Naruto screamed, crushing her to him.

"It's worthless." Sasuke whispered miserably, his voice cold.

"Sasuke, dammit! She...She just can't...SAKURA! SAKURA!" Naruto roared into the sad corpse's face. His tone shook Sasuke and for just a moment he believed, believed that she could hear. He had to try.

"Sakura! Please Sakura!" Sasuke was calling for her too, his voice sounding very young and frightened.

He knew it was worthless. He had seen her die with his own eyes, but the way Naruto was calling her...it was not the way someone called for someone lost. Naruto screamed for her as one would call to someone far away. His voice was desperate and angry, but there was no doubt in it. Naruto couldn't doubt and when he did...Sasuke knew it would be over. So he screamed for her, cried her name as Naruto shook her and held her close. He called and called because there was nothing else to do...

OoOoOoO

Her name. She heard it. The sound came from far away and the light had drifted farther away too. She thought maybe their voices were coming from there. She was so tired, but the voices cried, tugging at something in her soul. She wanted to sleep, to drift away, but... She heard them. Her men. They were screaming. Sakura shook herself in the darkness, forcing herself through the sluggish comfort. The light was so far away now. She could barely reach it and the darkness was comfortable, but they were crying for her. Screaming. Again and again. Her name. She heard them calling, calling desperately. She had to go. Mastering herself, she moved towards the star, coming closer, knowing there would be pain, but her men...they were screaming.

OoOoOoO

Naruto held the white flesh of his mate, only a shell, but he could not believe it. Sasuke had abandoned her, but even he was screaming. Crying for her like a child lost in the dark. They were lost, lost without her. The heaviness was threatening him and Naruto knew soon he would have to give in, accept the crushing grief and let it strangle hime. Even now his heart beat painfully in his chest, irregularly, taxed by the claiming and by the terrible fear that she was truly gone. It was seductive to merely let the grief come. To let his heart stop. Go with her into death. Still, Naruto screamed for her. He believed in her, she was strong. Her body was cold, no heartbeat in her chest, but he couldn't...not yet...not yet...

Sasuke screamed for her, close by Naruto's side, his face an inch from her cold lips. Blood from Sasuke's eyes dripped onto her face, but the Uchiha never paused. He called for her with the voice he had not used the day his parents died. Naruto had not known that that small part of Sasuke's spirit still lived, the part of the child left alone among the dead. It hurt to hear it in his voice, but Naruto was screaming too. They begged her to return, heedless that it might be too late. Sasuke had said that he watched her go. Naruto couldn't believe it.

There was a flutter in her flesh, the barest quiver of a pulse and then he heard it, her heart. Naruto could not hold them back, the tears, they fell from his eyes and he could not longer see.

"She's...She's alive!" Naruto cried. Sasuke looked afraid.

"Naruto, I don't know..." The Uchiha said.

"I hear it! Her heart! I hear it!" The jinchuuriki shrieked. Sasuke's eyes widened.

The raven haired ninja pushed Naruto to the side, pressing his ear tight between her breasts. His eyes grew wide, hope filling the bloody portals. He could hear it too and the knowledge made Naruto fell weak with relief. His vision was blurred with tears. He should have been monitoring her, checking her pulse, calling Tsunade, but his body was frozen as the sobs tore their way from his body. Naruto cried and hugged Sasuke close as color returned to her face. The Uchiha was shaking, his hand on her chest. Sakura was breathing. She was alive. Sasuke was crying, his tears hot against Naruto's shoulder. Sakura's heart was beating powerfully, her eyelids fluttering. When he finally saw the green of her eyes, Naruto felt the pressure around his own heart ease. She was alive.


	11. Chapter 11

_We are coming close to the end of this tale and I want to thank, once again, everyone who has spent the time to write a review. This story, originally a bit of post exam madness, nears its completion because of your support and enthusiasm. I especially want to thank Stormingnight, without whom this story would have certainly been merely one of those odd singular chapters that never goes anywhere. I also want to thank Darkhellia, Greenaceofspades, Graybear and Wolftracks17 for their thoughtful and, often, extremely helpful reviews. To Fireflyleo, I am so glad you are enjoying and I hope the threesome bit is still believable, if not canon. I really hate love triangles and the drama between these three was just too juicy to resist. As this story will likely come to its conclusion in the next couple chapters, I would like to ask a question of everyone: Should I write a sequel or, perhaps a companion story in the same universe? I have some very interesting ideas about a sequel involving more focus on the political complications introduced in "Peace for Monsters", a clan war with the Hyuuga and a focus on Neji and his issues. However, Gaara and his whole situation does also beg rather desperately to be explored and I have ideas for that tale as well. Gaara's story would likely involve a lot less canon and more original world creation along with quite a few original characters, but I think that might make it even more intriguing. Please let me know your thoughts on this and, as always, enjoy!_

Sakura gathered herself, moved into a lower stance, feeling the power flood through her body. The singing joy that Naruto had brought to her flesh when they made love returned as she moved, flexed and struck the practice field. The turf exploded, literally shattering under the force of her attack, raining dust down onto her opponent. Neji tried to counter, moving to avoid the calamity Sakura had wrought on the Earth beneath them. With barely a flick of her wrist, the girl surrounded him with the very turf of the field, forcing it into vast jagged peaks around the struggling Hyuuga. The movement of the chakra was smooth, nearly effortless as the field bucked and rolled beneath Neji. He spun, trying to dodge both the flying clods of dirt and the girl's deftly moving fists. Neji parried brilliantly, his hands too fast to see, face totally composed. The Hyuuga's byakugan was fully active, stretching the flesh surrounding his eyes, seeing Sakura move before she ever even twitched. He blocked her easily, again and again, but her attack was relentless. She struck at him, kicking, twirling, fighting him with every fiber of her body. He caught her foot and used the momentum to slam her against the ground. Sakura rolled as she hit, avoiding his next attack by millimeters. The girl flipped back over her hands, retreating, as he moved into a deeper stance. Neji's posture changed, growing still, too still...

Sakura knew he was preparing for the Gentle Fist, she saw it in every line of his body, in the very way he was breathing. If he touched her, even once, he could defeat her. Sakura smiled. She could fight him without ever being close enough to touch. Taking a deep breathe, she concentrated the chakra in her belly, letting the energy grow hot and volatile. Neji waited, his cold face impassive and Sakura wondered if he had any real motivation in the match at all other than merely gathering information. For a moment, Sakura hesitated. Sasuke had worked with her, but the technique was still incredibly difficult. The self-doubt crept around her, close like a poisonous vapor, but she pushed it aside. Spitting fire had been her obsession since she was a child, even though fire was a difficult element for her to use. Perhaps, she had hoped that mastering the difficult technique, one of the Uchiha's favorite techniques, would gain her some of Sasuke's respect.

Fire was, in its most fundamental form, a violent and unwieldy force, easily turned back upon any that would wield it. However, the Kyuubi was, at its core, a creature of fire and the demon's strength was now as much a part of her energy as her own soul. She could control the flames now, mold them to her will. As she pressed the energy tighter, letting it ignite in her body, Sakura wondered why she had ever been so afraid of fire jutsu. Something about the fire element, once so wild and terrifying, now felt almost...familiar. Sakura was no longer afraid, not of anything, and her skills had improved drastically. Sasuke had rather tartly attributed the change to her increased power, _everything_ was power to him, but she knew that the source of her new strength came from a deeper place. After being filled with Naruto's being, after facing death and turning the darkness aside, she felt invincible. There was no doubt of her strength, she had fought for her mates and won. The primal satisfaction of that simple truth filled her belly with a calm warmth even as the fire roared and struggled to escape her hold upon it. Sakura was loved by the two most powerful ninja in all of Konoha. She had survived her mating to a jinchuuriki, shared his chakra, faced Sasuke's demons and her own. Sakura felt that she could do anything and perhaps that was all she had ever needed.

Sakura spat the flames, the fire roaring from her body like a river from a breached dam. Her focus was perfect and the fire leapt to obey her will. Sakura was careful to control the chakra as it left her, the flames rushing past the delicate membranes of her lips without burning. She directed the inferno into a tight column, hotter than a laser, straight into Neji's face. The Hyuuga grunted and sprang aside. Sakura moved her will into the flames, spreading the fire into a burning sheet all around Neji, surrounding her opponent in a net of flames. Neji's eyes widened with shock. Not keen to waste the advantage, Sakura dashed forward, unafraid of the scorching heat. The scalding energy brushed her, but the flames were turned aside by the powerful waves of chakra rolling from her body. Neji tried to block, but the dancing fire was distracting the Byakugan, using chakra faster than he could stand to give it. He easily caught Sakura's fist, but her knee connected sharply with his guts. The Hyuuga grunted, doubling over her thigh. Sakura brought her elbow down hard on the back of his head.

There was a sickening crack and Neji began thrashing madly, movement uncoordinated. She had disrupted his vision. It was a friendly match and she had no desire to kill him, but she had been a medical nin and a skilled surgeon long enough to know just where in the visual cortex the nerves supplying the Byakugan lay. She struck him again and Neji screamed, his vision flashing dark. Ruthlessly, Sakura pinned the Hyuuga genius to the ground, wrenching his arms up behind his back. She leaned her weight against him, pressing his face hard into the ruined soil.

"Do you surrender?" She asked calmly.

Neji was silent. She jerked, thrusting against his shoulders and it was a credit to the Hyuuga ninja that he remained silent as his shoulders were painfully strained. He struggled against her, but Sakura was too strong. The girl tightened her hold and struck him hard across his shoulders. Neji twitched, but still said nothing.

"Neji! Give for Kami's sake!" She snarled. The proud Hyuuga trembled beneath her.

"I..." The Hyuuga began and then stopped.

"I can choke you out if I have to. You were the one who wanted this match, now give!" Sakura whispered harshly against his ear. Neji seemed to deflate.

"I..I...surrender." Neji spoke the words as if he barely believed them.

"Oh dear! How awful, cousin! You lost and Father will surely want to know." Hanabi smirked cruelly from her sister's side where the Hyuuga girls watched the match.

"Hanabi..." Hinata chastised softly, her soft voice heavy with shame. Hanabi dropped her eyes.

"But Sister! He lost the match and against Haruno too! He _lost_!" The younger girl hissed.

"Yes." Hinata said softly, her eyes filled with pity for her cousin.

Neji hung his head in shame.

OoOoOoO

"I can't tell if it is hubris or just pure stupidity. The damn Oni has already claimed the girl! His power grows as we speak! Dammit! What the hell are you waiting for!" Hiashi Hyuuga railed at the sullen shadow sitting in the damp alcove of the Valley of the End.

"Patience, Hyuuga. True, I had expected my opportunity to come earlier, but events favor us either way." Madara yawned, sounding bored.

"Opportunity! You have had EVERY opportunity!" Hiashi shouted.

Another starless night and another distasteful meeting with the immortal wretch, apparently for nothing. Weeks had passed and still Naruto lived. Lived and prospered. The newly forming Uzumaki family relaxed even as the season's changed, totally unafraid, a shameful foreign blight on Konoha. Madara should have wiped them out weeks ago, before the demon brat became bold enough to begin his claiming. Naruto had certainly afforded the madman enough bloody time, but apparently Madara's insanity was equaled only by the man's laziness. Now Sakura shared the demon's chakra, her power a hundred fold what it had been before. Sasuke could, even now, be buckling beneath the blonde oni as well, adding his strength to the illegitimate little upstart's pack. He would certainly be none the wiser, Hiashi thought bitterly. The Hyuuga leader had no way to know what occurred on in the Uzumaki household since Naruto's wards were totally impenetrable. Even a tiny ant summons could not find a chink in the vast energy barrier that the jinchuuriki had erected around the old Uchiha manor. The lack of intelligence make Hiashi nervous and with good reason. The ability to place spies was essential, knowledge was power and Naruto had effectively blinded him. The Hyuuga would never have even known that the girl was claimed if Neji hadn't lost rather spectacularly to her during a sparring match earlier that week. Neji, _his_ Neji, the chilly and unstoppable token of his twin's loyalty, had LOST and to the common Haruno bitch no less. The whole situation was swiftly growing intolerable. Naruto even had the gall to parade his whores around in public! The thought made Hiashi grind his teeth.

"You worry for nothing. I fully intended for him to claim both the girl and my pretty weapon and so, you see, I wait only upon his lust. Let Minato's brat claim whoever he wants, doing so only suites my purpose." Madara Uchiha chuckled darkly. Hiashi's stomach turned over at the sound.

"What! You intended all along to let him build the pack! Do you WANT him to become stronger? That is the very thing I sought to avoid!" Hiashi spat, incredulous.

"Be calm. The pack is meaningless..."

"Meaningless! You have betrayed me!" Hiashi shouted.

"You misunderstand. Try not to be too damn simple Hiashi! Your accusations try my patience." Madara hissed.

"If I misunderstand it is merely because your logic is too convoluted. Damn you! How does this serve your purpose, other than to anger me!" Hiashi fumed.

"Listen, your little Oni clan is nothing more than a serpent. A strong little beasty, true, but easily defeated if you know how to go about it." Madara said.

"Oh? And just how would you accomplish the task, I wonder." Hiashi spat testily.

"Like any snake, you focus on the head. If you capture the head, the body can only flop uselessly against you. Catch the head and the serpent is helpless. Let its body grow strong, it makes no difference, only the head of the beast matters in the end."

"Naruto." Hiashi guessed.

"Yes. He is the head. And my weapon will become a chink in his armor the moment Sasuke is claimed." Madara whispered gleefully.

"So...you wait for him to claim Sasuke? Why not attack now and save your little murderer the indignity?"

"The sharing of chakra is difficult, dangerous, for both parties. However, while the recipient of the energy recovers quickly, the donor does not. Until his body re-balances and the demon energy can be fully harnessed, Naruto must sustain the thrall over his pack from his own chakra reserves. Vast as his chakra is, Naruto will soon be at his most vulnerable. Just as female jinchuuriki are most compromised during childbirth, males are weakest during their first claiming. While the body grows in strength, the head becomes weak, vulnerable. The claiming weakens him, taking the girl nearly killed him! With each subordinate he claims, Naruto only becomes weaker still. The more of males that he claims, the weaker he will be. If you are so impatient, you should offer him a few more pretty boys instead of nagging me!" Madara yelled, laughing rudely.

"If he nearly died taking Haruno, why would Uzumaki be in any rush to have Sasuke?" Hiashi asked, unconvinced.

"You don't know very much about Jinchuuriki do you? They aren't people. One must not approach them as people or risk being confounded. They are monsters, beasts, and must abide by certain rules as all animals do. Their strength is vast, but they are helpless against the laws of nature by which they are governed." Madara explained, as if to a very young or very stupid child.

"What the hell are you babbling about now?" Hiashi growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, even if you are very hungry you can refuse to eat. Right? If your body's urges are at odds with logic, you merely resist nature's pull. Is it not so?" Madara asked, mildly exasperated.

"Of course..."

"Well, the Jinchuuriki cannot resist their urges. Perhaps something simple, like hunger, but not the urge to mate. You see, in this they become perfectly predictable because a jinchuuriki _will_ mate and take subordinates, despite the risk. The fact that he waited so damn long is an unforeseen boon since now the act makes him even weaker than it would have before!" Madara explained.

"I...I still do not understand." Hiashi admitted.

"Like I said, you don't understand because you don't know much about jinchuuriki. Once he has tasted the pleasures of the flesh, the brat won't be able to resist. How he resisted the heat for so long is a mystery, but he won't stop now. A day, maybe two and he will claim again and then I will take him. The Kyuubi will be mine once again!" Madara said cheerfully.

"Obviously Sasuke's rape doesn't disturb you. You've practically thrown him into Naruto's bed." Hiashi snapped quietly, disgusted.

"Not in the least. Sasuke belongs to me." Madara shrugged.

"Why offer your only kinsmen up to the demon's lust anyway? Not that I would put it past you, but I don't see the purpose. I thought you would be angry to have your precious weapon become the bitch of your greatest enemy's whelp." Hiashi nettled.

"Ignorant fool! Watch your tongue!" Madara snarled.

"Oh, so Sasuke is not merely a sacrifice then?" Hiashi smirked.

"You are a small minded idiot. By bedding my Sasuke, the kitsune only fuels my weapon's hate and hate makes him more powerful. Pain, anger, humiliation...these are what always make the Uchiha clan unstoppable. I cannot deny Sasuke the pain, doing so would only make him weaker. His brother was the same way. Itachi blossomed in the forge after the massacre, the agony making him more than a man. A god of vengeance! Sasuke, too, will be unstoppable, and without Itachi's mental weakness. Like forging a beautiful sword, the metal must be tempered, heated...pounded." Madara explained with an obscene hand gesture. Hiashi shuddered.

"You are insane."

"Perhaps, but hasn't Neji grown strong from the pain you have forced upon him? Imagine if you doubled his suffering, would his strength not also increase in turn?" Madara said, cocking his head.

"I have told you before, my nephew is not merely a weapon." Hiashi growled.

"So you say. A weapon is only as good as the hand that forges it."

"Well, if Sasuke dies in Naruto's bed then we will know whose forge is stronger, won't we?" Hiashi hissed. Madara crossed his arms.

"Yes." The Uchiha agreed, tightly.

"So we wait." The Hyuuga sighed.

"Yes, but not for long." Madara replied, his voice low and eager.

OoOoOoO

"Old Lady, I was thinking..." Naruto began.

He stood before Tsunade like a guilty child caught reading comics during lessons. The Hokage smiled a little as Naruto shifted his weight from foot to foot, obviously trying to find the right words. She could have saved him the trouble, she already knew what he was going to say. It was the same thing that almost all jinchuuriki asked after their first time: Isn't there another way? True, some of the vessels simply didn't care who suffered, but thank the gods they were rare. Tsunade could see the struggle in his face, in the fatigued lines of his body. Nature was a cruel thing.

"It's about Sasuke. I was wondering if..." The jinchuuriki started.

"No, Naruto."

"You haven't even heard what I was going to say!" The blond whined.

"You were going to ask if there was some other way that I would excuse his crimes. You were going to tell me how Sakura nearly died in your arms and how you just can't stand to ever claim again. The heat is all over you and so you were probably also going to ask for permission to go away for a while...how am I doing?" Tsunade asked gently. His lips tightened.

"How...How do you know...?" Naruto asked, looking slightly creeped out.

"You aren't the first jinchuuriki to ever take a mate. I have seen this reaction before. That, and you are incredibly easy to read." The Gondaime Hokage replied teasingly.

"Am not!"

"Naruto..." Tsunade whispered gently.

"Please Old Lady! Please! I don't want to lose him...not like that." Naruto pleaded.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, but the truth is that if Sasuke dies in your bed, it will only save me the trouble of executing him. If he lives, secure in your thrall, then, I suppose that that is also an acceptable alternative. Either way, I cannot simply let him go." Tsunade said softly.

"I know that, but what if..." Naruto pushed.

"No. I accepted your solution because it was a feasible alternative to his death that still preserves the Uchiha blood line, but that is as far as I am willing to compromise. I have already moved beyond the true realm of my influence in this and I have no more room to maneuver. If I were to try, which I won't, the council will get involved and Sasuke will die anyway." Tsunade said with an irritated wave of her hand.

Naruto looked at the ground, his hands shaking slightly. He looked awful, but she supposed that that was expected considering how long he had resisted the heat. How he had ever managed to hold it off for so long was a mystery to the her, but Tsunade ached to see him so weak, so afraid.

"Gaara said only the weak were at risk...that the demons wanted strong nin on purpose, but..." He whispered.

"But?" Tsunade urged gently.

"But Sakura is the strongest person I know and...she...she was dead..." Naruto choked.

"I am sure that it was not as serious as you thought." Tsunade laughed gently.

"She DIED! She wasn't BREATHING! Her heart...her heart..." Naruto roared, hands splayed upon the Hokage's desk. Tsunade sighed softly and put down her cup of sake.

"Naruto, now listen to me."

"NO! You don't understand!" He shouted, his eyes filling with tears.

"Uzumaki! Get a grip on yourself! Now, dammit!" She growled.

"H...Hai..." he sobbed.

The fat teardrops fell to her desk as the young man before her deflated, leaning on his hands with quivering, unsteady arms. Tsunade was immediately sorry for her tone as Naruto's bravado broke and he began to cry in earnest. She had seen the rough little orphan shed a tear or two once in a while, but now he was crying like he didn't know how to stop. She took a deep breath.

"The claiming is never simple, never easy, never predictable...at least from what I know. What I DO know is that as bad as it seemed, Sakura was never far from you. I knew she would use all her strength, all her will, to stay with you because she loves you. I was never afraid for her. _Love_, that is what makes real strength. Her heart might have faltered, but her love never did and so she returned to you. There is more to the body than anatomy and more to the heart than raw desire. Sasuke, too, will be safe if his love is strong. Sasuke is not afraid of death." Tsunade said as she stood and let her hand fall onto Naruto's heaving shoulder.

"I know Sasuke isn't afraid of death, but that isn't the problem! He_ loves_ death, _worships _it! THAT is what worries me." Naruto whispered, rubbing his eyes.

"His decision to live or die is not one that you can make for him. Sasuke has been chasing his own demise for a long time." Tsunade said softly, her tone kind.

"H...He thinks that by dying he will make it all right somehow! Kami! For a genius he is so...so..._stupid_!" Naruto hissed through ground teeth.

"Naruto...I have thought for a long time that if Sasuke is determined to leave us, well...that he may do it by your hand. You are one of the very few people strong enough to be any match for him. As for death, if he finds it in your bed...send him into the darkness with love. That is all you can do." Tsunade said with a sigh.

"I...I'm really tired." Naruto groaned, his eyes wet and red.

"I know. I know. Hang in there kid, it will be over soon." The Hokage soothed.

OoOoOoO

"Mother, forgive me. It has been...it has been many years since I spoke to you." Sasuke began quietly.

He knelt in the small Uchiha family shrine, far away from the main house, surrounded by the solitude of the forest. Sakura had hung wind chimes here too and they tinkled softly in the coming darkness. The scent of fresh, green tatami mixing with temple incense was rich and nostalgic, but Sasuke kept his composure. The candles cast a dim, solemn light over the glittering gold characters of the Uchiha clan's many ancestors. It was so close, all so familiar, reminding him of the terrible day he had visited the temple as a child by Kakashi's side after the massacre. The funeral had been solemn, the rows of coffins carried to the graveyard in a winding parade like they did after great battles. There had been too many coffins to carry all at once and so the parade was more like a giant loop around the Uchiha compound. No one had spoken. No one knew what to say. No one told Sasuke what to do, so he simply followed the coffins until everyone had been laid down, walking in circles hour after hour. Itachi had not spared any of the other children or the elderly and the coffins had been made in every size. He watched and walked and cried, but once the graveyard was full, there was nothing left to do and he went to the shrine.

His mother had always said that the shrine was for talking to the dead, but she had never mentioned that the dead never talked back. He had felt so lied to. So betrayed. How could she have said those things to him and now, when he really needed to hear her, give nothing but silence? Sasuke had been too young to really understand. He had read all the plaques, the names of everyone he knew, all gone. Sasuke had called to his mother, his father...but no one had answered. He had been left behind.

Kakashi found him there, many hours later, and took him away. Sasuke had not returned since that day, until now. Nothing had changed. The windows were still high and old, the light of the sunset painting the shrine purple and orange. Naruto had polished all of the family plaques and left fresh flowers too. White lilies. His mother had loved those, but he had never told Naruto that. The flowers must have been on sale in the market today, Naruto loved bargains. Regardless it was fitting.

"I have done all I can. I have given everything to avenge you. I have killed all who slighted you and many others too. I would kill anyone, everyone, just to bring you back! I...I just don't know when it will be enough. I don't know when there will be enough blood to pay for how you died. I don't know if there are enough people left to kill, ever, to fill up the hole you left. I kill, again and again, but I still feel the pain. The numbness never lasts." Sasuke said. He sighed.

Talking to a stone with a name on it was stupid, but he felt so lost. Kakashi and his damn words had made too much sense, had forced him to put logic onto a situation that he had only ever viewed emotionally. Sasuke had made his hatred his only ally and perhaps it had betrayed him too.

"My choices have been taken away and...maybe...I don't know...maybe being a slave is better. Maybe it is better this way. That or death, I suppose." Sasuke blushed in shame, "I have been a slave anyway, ever since you left me. I have obeyed Itachi without thought and let my anger consume me. I obeyed my brother's every command, your murderer, because it was easier. He told me to kill him and I did. He told me to make war and I did. I wanted everyone to hurt as I do, but death does not make it better.

Is it supposed to be better? Is pain merely the goal? If I had chosen to kill Sakura, I don't think I could have gone on. When I saw her. Cold and dead. I was not happy. I should have been happy that she was gone, that I had been saved the trouble of killing her, but...I...it was just the same. I felt the same agony. I felt the same pain as I had when you died. Her death did not make me stronger, I felt weak, helpless..."

"Is Kakashi right? What will I do when there is no one left? If I killed Naruto and Sakura, would anything be different? Would it make it better?" The question was spoken softly as if in fear of reproach.

"Is that what you really want? Do you want me to kill them?" Sasuke whispered. Only silence answered him.

"I love you, only you and my clan. I did not want to love anyone else, but I betrayed you. I gave in, somehow, and now I love others too. I tried not to...but I failed." He took a breath. "I am weak, just as father always said. I love them. Tonight, if I go to join you, please forgive me. If I die, if Naruto kills me, please let me come home?" Sasuke pleaded into the silence.

OoOoOoO

There was something solemn about it, Sakura thought. Something quiet and serious and almost worshipful about the way Naruto pulled the kimono from Sasuke's shoulders. The white garment fell away baring skin nearly as pale as Naruto pushed Sasuke against the wall. The Uchiha did nothing to resist him, allowing himself to be pressed, captured. Sakura ran her fingers over the porcelain ridges of Sasuke's clavicles, the flesh already warm from Naruto's touch. His skin was smooth, decorated with tiny scars too pale to really see. Sakura could feel the evidence of Sasuke's violent life beneath the pads of her fingers and the texture of him excited her. He was strong, powerful, and he would soon belong to her just as surely as Naruto did. The animal satisfaction of possessing the man who had always been out of reach made her breath come quickly.

Naruto kissed the flesh, devouring the pale column of the Uchiha's neck, his hands stroking the firm planes of Sasuke's chest. The raven haired ninja bent into the caress, giving in to Naruto's greater strength, moaning quietly at the touch. Seeing the submission in his body made Sakura want him even more and she knew that the behavior was eroding Naruto's control as well. Naruto captured Sasuke's wrist, holding him roughly against the wall, rumbling softly against his throat. The primal sound sent a shiver down her spine and through the Uchiha as well. Sasuke trembled in Naruto's grasp as the jinchuuriki undressed him. Soon there was nothing between Naruto's flesh and the porcelain perfection of Sasuke's body. He was lovely. He had practically been bred to be and even knowing that, the Uchiha's beauty still took Sakura's breath away. They were like the sun and the moon, Naruto and Sasuke. One hot and golden, shining with effortless passion, while the other was cool, distant and powerful.

Naruto's wild, foreign beauty was breathtaking against the cultured elegance of Sasuke's form. They moved against each other, snarling at the sensation, mouths open to better taste one another's scent. Sakura let her mouth play over Naruto's shoulders, tasting the coiled tension in his muscles. The desire rolled off of the vessel in waves, the need in it making Sakura dizzy with want. The demon chakra tingled inside her as the girl reached around Naruto's waist to grasp the jinchuuriki's erection. The flesh was hard, hot and throbbing in her hands. Sakura stroked him, shivering at the satin texture of the intimate skin as Naruto shuddered beneath her fingers. Groaning helplessly as she touched him, Naruto moved his clawed fingers over the pale curves of Sasuke's hips. The raven haired ninja's eyes were huge and filled with heat as the jinchuuriki gripped his chin, forcing Sasuke's mouth against his own in a rough kiss. His tongue swept deeply into Sasuke's mouth and Sakura knew how strong the agile muscle could be. Even though the dance was hidden from her eyes, she already knew how the kiss would end. Naruto would stroke him, lap at his tongue and dominate him until Sasuke gave in. Even now Sasuke was whimpering and soon the Uchiha would soften his lips and suck Naruto's tongue, yielding to him fully. She knew because she too surrendered to Naruto's kisses. It was a part of the private ritual that had come to be part of their love play. Her men always kissed that way, testing eachother's resolve. There would be a fragile moment of near violence and then Sasuke would give in. He would surrender and not because he had been beaten, but because the only thing Sasuke truly respected was power and Naruto's kiss had enough strength in it to satisfy him.

The jinchuuriki bent to taste Sasuke's nipples, lapping and nipping at the tender peaks until they were firm and flushed. Sakura pumped her hands over Naruto's body, feeling her own flesh thrum with arousal as he gasped. They moved together in a shivering kind of synchrony, touching, stroking and licking until Sasuke was flushed and Naruto's teeth were long and deadly. Naruto dropped to his knees and took Sasuke's hardened penis into his mouth, the razor fangs caressing the heated flesh as Sakura moved to take the Uchiha's mouth. He tasted fresh and pure, like snow or water from the very highest mountain spring. Sasuke gasped brokenly against her lips and Sakura knew that Naruto was pushing his tongue into the tender slit of the man's shaft. She had taught him that. There was a roughness to the gesture strangely tempered by the position of the lovers. Even though Naruto was on his knees, there was no doubt as to who was in control. The Uchiha's breath was coming hard and fast, his chest heaving. Naruto lapped at him and the ebony curtains of his lashes closed over his eyes. He fought it. Why he fought, Sakura had no idea, but he did. Sasuke warred with the reactions of his own body, as if he could keep himself distant from them, from life itself.

"Too much...too close..." He whispered shakily against her mouth.

"Shhhh, let it happen." Sakura whispered in return, running her fingers through his hair.

"But..."

"It's good. It will help you relax." Sakura crooned, nibbling his jaw.

"Relax...?" He murmured.

Her other hand was tangled in Naruto's sunshine mane, moving with him as he sucked. Sasuke was trembling, his now free hands cupping Sakura's breasts with passion and trepidation in equal measure. The contact was glorious. She pressed herself against him, the silken texture of his flesh electrifying against her own. He grunted and struggled a little against the dual arousal, but Naruto's hands on his hips were firm. Sakura held his jaw as she kissed him, soothing the wild passions roiling in his eyes. She wanted him to know that it was okay to be afraid, okay to feel whatever it was he needed to feel. Sakura wanted him to trust her but more than anything, she wanted him to know that he was loved. Sasuke turned away from her, hiding his dark eyes behind the curtain of his hair, but it was too late. She had seen it, the emotion hidden in those obsidian depths now unveiled in a moment of passion. She had seen the uncertain want, the tender hope and the icy guilt. All of it. She did not understand it, but Sakura had never needed to. Despite what Sasuke was thinking, despite what madness his brother had forced onto him, she loved him. If that made her weak and foolish in his eyes, so be it.

He bit his lip, fighting the moan threatening to escape as Naruto loved him. Sasuke was on the edge, his control shattering, the war of it written in his eyes. He was shaking. Sakura responded by brushing her lips over the tender place behind his left ear, licking the skin there softly. The captive air was released with a harsh cry. He stiffened and with an almost agonized noise of surrender, came hard into Naruto's mouth. The jinchuuriki rumbled, the sound heavy with approval and satisfaction.

Sasuke collapsed, his body limp and quivering in Sakura's arms. Once he would have been heavy, once she would have struggled to hold him, but now the Uchiha was barely a burden at all. Naruto stood and kissed him, his blue eyes nearly purple as the demon chakra began to bleed into his own. Sasuke returned the kiss, letting his hands rest on Naruto's jaw. They kissed a long time and it was both rough and gentle in turns. Naruto finally pulled back, resting his forehead against Sasuke's, looking him in the eyes.

"Tell me to stop." Naruto whispered.

"You know you can't." Sasuke replied just as quietly.

"I will..."

"It would hurt you to try. You can't stop."

"I don't want to hurt you..." Naruto pleaded.

"Idiot. Like you ever could." Sasuke hissed, but there was no disdain in his tone. There was nothing in it. The words were, for once, only words and that made Sakura afraid. Sasuke's proclamations had never been so empty before.

"Stay, Sasuke. Stay with me." Naruto growled and pulled him onto the bed.

OoOoOoO

Sasuke moaned helplessly and undulated against Naruto again, the slick glide of their erections coaxing a cry from the blond as well. Sasuke's mind had forgotten how to be ashamed, how to fight the feelings that Naruto's hands and mouth and smile pulled from him. His usually exacting brain was a warm blank, filled only with pleasure and the glittering beauty if Sakura's hair and nothing else. Here he sat, straddling Naruto's hips like a common whore, and feeling nothing but ecstasy for it. The act was wholly wanton, as brazen and shameless as anything he had ever done, but they made it feel so good. Even as the demon beneath him fought for control, Sasuke knew he himself had lost it long ago, knew that _he_ couldn't stop.

Sakura knelt over Naruto's legs behind him, kissing his shoulders and running her clever fingers over the spot behind his ear. He sat couched against the ethereal softness of her body, firmly trapped in the new found strength of her arms. Naruto held Sasuke's hips against his own, his large hand encircling both of their straining organs in a heated embrace. They moved together, the rhythm slow and maddening, as Naruto smeared the warm pre-cum over their aching bodies. Sasuke was fully at the mercy of it, trapped between the demon and his mate, moaning and writhing for them as they played his body like a well tuned instrument. Sakura bit his shoulder and the incandescent moment blazed fully into an inferno that threatened to consume him. Naruto stilled beneath him and some silent communication passed between the jinchuuriki and the rose haired nymph behind him. Sasuke would have puzzled on it and perhaps felt suspicious, but then Naruto was pulling him down over his chest.

The hand upon his neck was possessive, the claws long and wicked against his vulnerable pulse, but Sasuke was not afraid. He looked into Naruto's eyes, their fuchsia depths evidence of the struggle the blond still fought to remain in control. The strain was etched into his face, his lips pulled back from the sharpened teeth in an expression that was almost a grimace. Naruto held Sasuke down against him, kissing him roughly and the razor edge of one tooth nicked Sasuke's lip. Unperturbed, Naruto licked the tiny bead of blood away and continued his ravishment of Sasuke's mouth. The kiss was so consuming, so complete and sharpened by the tiny pain that Sasuke lost himself in it. For the second time that night, he did not merely endure the touch, but kissed Naruto like a lover.

He was so lost, so warm and aroused that at first Sasuke's fevered brain did not register the hands against his ass. The girl was rubbing him, massaging the muscles there. Sakura spread him, fully exposing the most intimate part of his body before the raven haired ninja ever reacted. He struggled against Naruto then, but the jinchuuriki's powerful right hand was like steel against his neck and Sasuke's wrist was pinned in the other. Sakura kissed his lower back soothingly as she moved her hands over him and then...

Sasuke yelped and thrashed. He wasn't an idiot, he had known all along that this was the only possible conclusion this psychotic adventure could have, but her fingers...she was...it was too intimate. Sasuke panted, quivering in near panic in the iron cage of Naruto's arms as Sakura rubbed her oil slicked fingers over the tender skin of the tiny opening. A strained whimper crept past his lips as a deep quiver settled into Sasuke's flesh. Undaunted by his reaction, the girl rubbed him, coating the tight flesh liberally with oil, massaging the intimate opening with warm fingers. It felt strangely pleasurable, hot and very, very stimulating in a way he had never experienced. Sasuke had no idea how he could feel so _much_ there, no one had _ever_ touched him there before. Even the ridges of her finger pads were rough against his flesh as she rubbed the sensitive opening. A whispered moan escaped his lips as his body slowly began to adjust to the close contact and the strange pleasure vibrated through his body. Her movements became a little deeper, more insistent and there was more oil. She rubbed the virgin flesh, stroking his body into grudging acceptance of her fingers until Sasuke's reality narrowed to only the sensation of her touch. He tried to breathe, to think, but there was only the soft press of her fingers and his own body opening to the touch. Sex, even after the weeks of frustrated foreplay, had only been an idea, a theory and now Sakura's hands were _there_...against him. The pad of her finger slipped in and he bucked hard against Naruto's hold. God, she was _inside_ him!

"S...S...Shit!" He gasped.

"It's ok. She knows what to do." Naruto purred heavily against his neck, lapping his throat in a strange display of animal affection.

Her finger remained within him, still and foreign inside the trembling ring of virgin muscle. Sasuke had never felt so vulnerable, so open, but his body was still loose from the previous release and did not reject her. Her finger, just a single digit, felt huge within him. Sasuke could feel his tense flesh stretching and aching around the invasion. She pushed, slow and deep, rubbing as she prepared him. Sasuke gasped and struggled, but Naruto's hands on his neck and wrist were firm and unmoving. Sakura never halted, moving in a firm circle, stretching the tight opening and rubbing as she went. There was pain, sharp like hot water on raw skin, but the penetration was stimulating too. It was not a feeling that he could block out or ignore. Naruto writhed beneath him, kissing his neck hungrily, trying to distract him from the intimate ache. The Uchiha grit his teeth and tried to relax, tried not to think.

After a while, the slight pain gave way and only thrumming pleasure remained. Sakura moved inside him with with confidence now, stroking his inner walls, thrusting in and out. Her hadn was sensual and methodical, coaxing little sparks of ecstasy from the tender flesh. He shuddered as her finger brushed something electric deep inside his body and he moaned against Naruto's throat. With the easy competence of someone who knew anatomy very, very well, Sakura found his prostate and pressed. White hot ecstasy exploded at the base of Sasuke's spine, sending scalding waves of pleasure ricocheting through his body. He cried out, arching against her hand in pure carnal reflex. Naruto purred in approval, the sound making his teeth chatter as the blood turned to erotic fire in his veins. He shouted in rapture only to have the sound swallowed by Naruto's kisses.

Sakura pumped him, rubbing his prostrate until Sasuke was nearly on the edge of orgasm from the stimulation alone. He moaned, thrashed against Naruto's hard body, all thoughts of dignity and vulnerability fully washed from his mind by the heady pleasure. He was moving his hips against her hand and could not seem to stop. Sakura gasped, her thumb moving to lower stroke against the heated skin of his scrotum and Sasuke practically screamed. She added another finger and the pain returned, hot and abrasive. He cried out, but the sound turned into a nearly agonized moan as Sakura's clever fingers found the tingling bundle of nerves again…and again, and again, and again. Naruto was undulating beneath him, his eyes fully scarlet now and his teeth sharp and rough against Sasuke's skin. A deep snarl of heavy desire and shattering control and the Jinchuuriki's claws were against his cheek, the other hand tangled painfully in his hair.

Vaguely Sasuke realized that Naruto had succumbed to instinct, that there was no going back. Had there ever been a possibility of going back? The finality of Naruto's claws sinking into his hip should have been a call to combat, a trigger to fight, but Sasuke's fevered brain barely even registered the pain. He moaned and the sound was strange in his own ears, breathy and almost desperate. A third finger and a gasp of indrawn breathe. Push and pull. Ebb and flow. A deep sense of urgency from both the feral creature beneath him and the kunoichi at his back. Time was short. Too much sensation for him to fully comprehend. Sasuke fought to maintain some form of control, his psyche a hot blank, his body a glorious cacophony of pleasure and pain.

There was movement, too fast to be human and his chest hit the bed with a dull thump. Naruto was covering him, one hand on the nape of Sasuke's neck and the other clutching his hip. His burning lungs fought to regain their air. The deep instinctual fear an animal of prey feels in the shadow of its predator and then Naruto's teeth were sinking deep into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Sasuke grunted, the pain bringing a sort of fractured clarity to his fevered thoughts. He had a breath, maybe, two, and then he felt the heavy pressure of Naruto's arousal against him. The proud Uchiha bit his lip as the jinchuuriki pushed and deep visceral pain bloomed in his body. He groaned as Naruto entered him, filling his body and stretching the tender flesh to its limit. He had to relax, Sakura had told him to relax. He struggled, but Naruto's hold on him was absolute and Sasuke only earned a throaty snarl that rang through the bones of his skull for the effort. He hissed as the blond demon penetrated him further, a heavy burning ache filling his body until Sasuke was panting with the pain of it.

Sasuke had lived a life colored by agony and he had known much worse pain, but this...it was so intimate, so _consuming_ and unavoidable. There was no calm behind the pain, no retreat, he could not merely close his mind to it. His knees trembled with the visceral ache and Sasuke focused on breathing, breathing and not screaming, as a film of chilly sweat misted over his skin. Naruto groaned in ecstasy as he penetrated Sasuke's tight heat, the muscles of his chest jumping against the Uchiha's shoulders. The jinchuuriki filled him, filled him completely and then more. With a grating snarl, Sasuke tried again to writhe away from the full ache only for Naruto to press his face into the bedding. Sasuke groaned. He was full with Naruto and his body strained as the jinchuuriki finally sheathed himself completely. A half choked whimper escaped Sasuke's lips. Blood poured generously from his shoulder, but the pain of the wound was distant and mild as the Uchiha sought to relax. To breathe. To find his calm. To relax.

Naruto moved. Sasuke braced himself for what he knew would be mind shattering agony, but shrieked in shock as pleasure thundered through his already saturated nerves. Sasuke's eyes were wide open, but his vision blurred with the feeling of it. His blood ignited as Naruto found the place within and thrust against it. The pain evaporated, burned away by the most all consuming ecstasy Sasuke had ever known. There was the slick slide of bodies against one another, the sound of ragged breathing, but all of it was far away. All lost beneath the white hot stimulus pounding like waves through his body. Sasuke was screaming, moaning, his body once again hard and hot with erotic fire. The bedding was rough against his sensitized skin and Naruto's teeth in his flesh tingled as his overloaded psyche tried to remember how to feel them. There was no pain. No guilt. No thought. Only the storm of rapturous erotic sensation, only Naruto within him. Too much...too close... With another broken shriek, Sasuke came hard into Naruto's ready palm...and the sensation did not _change_.

Sasuke's body was trembling with the warmth of post-coital fatigue, but the electric flood of pleasure never ceased. The feeling pounded through Sasuke's veins like a flood swollen river, unstoppable in its course. The Uchiha could feel it, the demon chakra pouring into his own, filling his meridians with fire. He moaned as his body tried to cum again, but the action was unnatural and he could not release. Sasuke's muscles locked in spasm and he jerked against Naruto who still held him down with granite strength. The energy was foreign, the flood of it an invasion that Sasuke reacted to violently. The urge to resist, to maintain the distance was more than instinct, it was the foundation of all that he had grown to be. Sasuke did not surrender, he had _never_ surrendered to anything or anyone, no matter how powerful the foe. He fought, fought to push it out, to regain control of his chakra.

Cold hurt seared through his body as Sasuke halted the scarlet flood and pushed it back. The strength of the demon energy was awesome, but Sasuke would not yield to it. Naruto snarled and dug his claws into Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke grunted, but kept fighting. The demon energy flared, pushing into him again and Sasuke violently threw his own life force against it. The roiling clash of energy burned him, tearing his chakra pathways apart. The agony was terrible, but Sasuke did not waver. His sight darkened, growing shadowy around the edges. On the very edge of his consciousness he heard Sakura shouting to him. Sasuke, shook away the agony, stilling his mind to fight the scarlet poison again. He fought, blocking the chakra each time it flared, but he couldn't force it away. The power of it was too strong and waxing with every moment. His own chakra clashed against the Kyuubi energy again and again and each time the agony drove him to the very edge of consciousness.

Sasuke growled weakly as he beat back the possessive energy again, the icy agony lancing through his body. Naruto was still moving rhythmically, but the physical sensation of it seemed so distant and unimportant compared to the battle warring within his own energy channels. Sasuke fought it with every ounce of his will, but the red chakra surged forward inch by inch anyway. It was vast, more vast than the heat of the very sun, an ocean of life force surging against his own in pulsing, indomitable waves. Sasuke was losing, but fighting with everything he had, everything that he was. His father had always said that he was weak...

With an agonized snarl, the raven haired ninja, beat back the demon's advance within him as another wave of numbing torment scalded him. A thin trickle of blood began to flow from his nose as the ringing agony filled his head. Still he struggled, fighting to hold on to himself, to assert his control over his own body. Sasuke knew his strength was flagging. He coughed and there was blood on his lips too. The Uchiha no longer had the strength to hold his eyes open. He let them close, focusing deeper on the invading energy and pushing it away. He would not yeild, not to Naruto, not to Kyuubi, not to anyone for anything EVER. The pain was making him sick, weak and dizzy. Darkness crept close around his mind, stronger with every moment. If he let the flood claim him then... He was not that weak.

"_No, you are very strong. Strong in the worst way." _The voice came as if from a great distance, whispering in his head.

"Kyuubi." Sasuke whispered.

"_It costs me to speak to you this way. I have never done this before, but...you are precious to him." _The Fox said, its voice like thunder on the ocean.

"Precious?" Sasuke spat, his voice ragged.

"_He loves you."_

"He is a fool."

"_Perhaps...but it is true nonetheless."_ The Fox murmured.

"Get out of me." Sasuke hissed, feeling the blood pooling in his lungs.

"_I cannot. Nature will run its course one way or another. You damage yourself by resisting." _The Fox sighed.

"I...I can't...stop." Sasuke ground out as he pushed the chakra back again.

"_You are very close to death now, Uchiha. Yield. Your body will not sustain this battle much longer. _"

"Why...Why do you care so much?" Sasuke panted. There was a breath of silence in the pain.

"_He is...my kit. I cannot live within him and care nothing for those that he loves." _

"Love..." Sasuke whispered bitterly into the darkness.

"_Accept his energy. Accept his love or you will die._" Kyuubi urged.

"I can't!" Sasuke moaned.

"_Accept him."_

"No!"

"_Foolish child!"_

"I...I...I'm not weak!"

"_You are. You are dying even now."_

"I'm not afraid to die."

"_Let him love you. Just let go..."_

"I can't!"

"_Do it. Do it __now __or you will die here, in bed, held in the arms of a l__over. There is no glory in that!__"_Kyuubi hissed.

"I can't! I can't!" Sasuke shouted.

"_Trust him."_

"I can't! I can't! I CAN'T!"Sasuke screamed as Naruto came in a hot rush deep inside him.

The energy bucked and whirled through his chakra pathways and finally surged through.

OoOoOoO

As the scarlet veil fell away from his vision, Naruto already knew something had gone wrong. Even without control, without true cognizance, he had known that Sasuke had resisted him until the very last moment. The claiming had been difficult, taxing in a way that taking Sakura had not been and he was almost too exhausted to remain conscious. His heart labored as it had before, but there was terrible pain too, burning behind his eyes. The agony of seared nerves, trying to heal and too little energy to do so wracked every inch of his body. Naruto tipped his head back and tried to breathe. He ached, ached deeply with every fiber of his being, hands shaking as the claws sunk away into his flesh. He could hear Sakura trying very hard not to cry. The body in his hands was too still. Naruto swallowed, but his mouth was dry. Oh Kami, no…please no…

As gently as he could with arms still shaking violently, Naruto turned Sasuke to face him and saw the blood. Sasuke was bleeding from his nose and eyes, specs of the damning fluid around his lips as well. The jinchuuriki shuddered to see it. Naruto sighed and felt hot tears creep into his eyes. Sasuke would not want him to cry. Sasuke only respected strength. Sakura wailed somewhere behind him and Naruto knew he should comfort her, that he should say something. Had it always been destined to be this way? Naruto's heart ached and shuddered in his chest. With another heavy breath and no small amount of effort, he pulled Sasuke's limp form into his lap.

"I hope…I hope you are home… Tell them that I'm sorry." Naruto whispered.

Sasuke's eyelids twitched and Naruto forgot to breathe. The obsidian pools opened, still murky with blood, but clear and aware. Sasuke took a shuddering breath and then another, coughing hard as air rushed over the damaged membranes of his lungs. Naruto felt his vision swim as the Uchiha looked into his face.

"Naruto?" He whispered.

The jinchuuriki smiled and kissed Sasuke softly on the mouth before collapsing into oblivion.

OoOoOoO

"What do you hear?" Madara asked softly of the large eared fox demon by his side.

Her vast ears, twice as large as her pointed face, swiveled as she listened. The little oni was a lesser creature, barely more than a mortal, but she had her uses. He had captured the little kitsune in a land far to the west, a dry place of endless grasslands. When he had seen her, hunting for mice beneath the ground, Madara knew her ears would be an asset. He had not been proven wrong. With her, he could monitor the happenings within the Uchiha estate without ever crossing beyond the wards and risking his presence being detected. Once the claiming was complete however…it would no longer matter that the jinchuuriki knew of his presence.

"A sharp cry, almost human. Perhaps a sound of pain…or completion…hard to say." The great eared fox said.

"And…" Madara prodded.

"Silence now."

"Wait." Madara ordered and the fox re-directed her ears to the sounds. Moments passed.

"I hear human voices." She said, ears quivering with the effort of discerning such distant sounds.

"How many?"

"Three, though one only for a moment and very soft. Two male and one female."

"And their hearts?" The fox grimaced with effort and listened more intently.

"Three. All beating, one irregularly." She said.

"Excellent." Madara replied with an ugly smile.

"Lord Madara…I…I have done as you wanted, now release my kits!" The little fox begged, baring her tiny teeth.

"Your kits are free and have been for some time." He replied, enjoying the look of pain that crossed her features.

"Liar! Release my children! You have no need of them!" She snarled, her golden eyes wide and desperate.

"True and I have. I released them from all things, even from the shackles of this life." Madara replied with a chuckle.

Her face contorted with agony, her great ears tight and close to her skull. It was delightful, the pain, pain from such a simple action. If she had been a creature to cry, perhaps the little fox demon would have wept, but as it was she merely wilted. The care that monsters had for their mates and young was always predictable. Even the great Kyuubi was the same. Such vulnerability was not something the Uchiha clan had ever fostered, it was their distance from such foolish cares that made them powerful. Love was only weakness.

"I…I should have known." She whispered, tail low.

"Poor dumb beast. The uncertainty was enough to chain you." Madara sighed, smiling at her grief.

She leapt at him, teeth sharp and gleaming. Her teeth penetrated his wrist, tearing bloody gashes through the flesh. Madara swatted the oni aside. She fell on her feet, but the wave of his chakra crippled her. The demon strove to rise, her eyes gleaming madly. Madara laughed and set his booted foot to her side, ruthlessly crushing her ribs. She jerked, snarling viciously. Here chakra flared menacingly, the image of her prone form doubling in the swirling energy. Nevertheless he held her fast.

"He…He will _kill_ you! Kyuubi will bathe in your sordid blood and I will be avenged! My kits will be avenged!" The fox wailed in fury and pain.

"Wrong little monster, he will be mine just as you were. The vessel will die, as will his mate and Sasuke will rise above it all even more powerful than before. They will join you in the next life and all will be as I have designed." Madara replied.

"I am no monster, YOU ARE!" She screamed as he struck off her head.

With a disgusted flick of the blade, Madara scattered the demon's blood over the grass. A pity to waste such a fine tool, but his manipulation of her could only last so long. No matter. Should he had need of such a creature again, it would be easy enough to capture another. She was only a minor spirit, unlike Kyuubi, and common enough to find if one knew where to look. He pondered her last words, truly an interesting thing for a kitsune to say, but then no one really knew what oni thought.

"Prepare yourselves! We attack at dawn and rescue Sasuke!" Madara called down to a waiting Suigetsu and Jugo.

The ninja rested anxiously at the base of the small hill. He had told them that the demon would only speak to him and the poor idiots believed him. They were far enough away that he had to shout, which suited his purposes. Underlings were troublesome if they knew too much.

"About time! Has Sasuke been hurt?" Suigetsu shouted up to him.

"I don't know, he_ is_ in the jaws of a demon. I know only that he is still alive. If only we had found a weakness in the barrier sooner!" Madara replied with false regret. The fools still believed that Sasuke's rescue had been delayed by circumstance and not design. Still, even Sasuke's band of simpleton's had their uses.

"We will rescue him! I pray we are not too late!" Jugo exclaimed. Madara nodded.

"Rest. Tomorrow we slay an oni greater than any you have seen." Madara cautioned. The other nodded and moved off to make camp.

"Enjoy my weapon for now monster. Tomorrow your blood will be mine." Madara chuckled into the darkness.


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you, thank you, thank you a thousand times! I am excited and honored to present the climax of this tale to you. Without the support of reviewers like Darkhellia666 who have been reading this story from the beginning, offering both encouragement and advice, this story would have never happened. I also want to thank Nabuching, Dashel, and Maxride Lover for their much appreciated reviews of chapter 11. If readers want a sequel or the companion story I mentioned before, please let me know which you prefer! Details about my ideas for each are in the heading of the previous chapter. Without further adieu...please enjoy._

It was close to dawn, the darkest part of the night, and yet Sasuke lay awake against the warmth of Naruto's body. He felt frayed and tired to his core, but Sasuke could not sleep. Sakura was snuggled close against the blonde's other side pretending to sleep. Her eyes were closed, but the girl's body language was too tense and alert to convince him that she was even dosing. Every few hours, Sasuke watched her gently check his pulse and Naruto's. She was an excellent medical nin and gathered the vitals with barely a touch. Still, she touched Naruto much more frequently and her hand lingered on his arteries longer as well. The jinchuuriki slept in the deep stupor of the truly exhausted, his skin an unhealthy shade of gray that Sasuke tried not to think about. Naruto would heal. Naruto always healed. He was terribly annoying that way.

He had woken up to a glimpse of blue eyes only to see the blonde ninja collapse. Naruto moaned weakly from time to time, but had not woken. Both of them had suffered in the claiming and Sakura had said something about Naruto having neural damage. His pupils weren't contracting the way they should and his condition clearly terrified the kunoichi. Sasuke had not been much better, many of the smaller vessels of his eyes and lungs having burst during the transfer of chakra. Blood had pooled sickeningly in his lungs and Sakura worried that the mesh of vessels surrounding his brain had hemorrhaged briefly as well. The girl had fretted, but eventually decided to treat and watch over them herself, a decision he approved of completely. Sasuke had no love or trust of other Konoha medical nin and Naruto had too many enemies to leave himself vulnerable. Without the Hokage practically sitting by his bedside, the blonde demon would not have been safe. Sakura made her choice and carried Naruto away to wash the sweat from his skin. The jinchuuriki had looked so small and sick in her arms. Sasuke had forgotten, because of the nature of their relationship, that he was still taller than Naruto by several inches. His lungs had ached horribly and so had the Uchiha's head, but now, a bare eight hours later, he felt fully healed. In fact, Sasuke felt better than he had since his luckless poisoning at the hands of Kiba and Neji. His traitorous knee was still impossible to _find_, but where ever the damn limb was it felt powerful. Overall he felt...strong.

Naruto had promised him power and apparently payment for services rendered had been made. The thought made Sasuke feel dirty, but only because the Uchiha could not deny how deeply he savored the thrum of the concentrated oni strength flowing through his meridians. Even if Naruto was not his irresistible self, even if Sasuke had not been tricked into loving him, the Uchiha might have succumbed anyway. If someone else had offered him this energy, this power, in exchange for something as simple as sex, would he have refused? The question made his belly clench and Sasuke did not know the answer. The situation was different, because of Sakura and the dobe, but would the outcome have still been the same? Feeling nauseous, Sasuke ran his fingers through Naruto's golden hair.

A few of the strands came away in his fingers and Sasuke had to beat back a flood of unreasonable panic. He had never seen Naruto this way. The relentless blonde had been silly and often awkward, but never weak. Never. The stillness was alien to Naruto's body and looked unnatural. Sasuke ran his fingers over the jinchuuriki's lips and felt the familiar tug of guilt on his soul. A tense moment of utter silence and the birds began singing in earnest, Sasuke raised his head at their noise. The sun rose, color flooding the blackness to the east and the night began to recede. Sasuke brushed his lips over Naruto's chilly skin. The flesh was cool and unresponsive. By Kami, the idiot wasn't dying...was he?

Sakura opened her eyes, looking worried. Sasuke knew she had never seen Naruto as weak before either. The blonde was a ninja, and usually an awkward one, so being banged up was nothing new, but Sasuke could not remember ever seeing the dobe so still, so pale, so weak. Perhaps in their last struggle, Sasuke had once again definitively won, but the triumph, such as it was, was bitter in his throat. Sakura laid her fingers against the jinchuuriki's pulse for the thousandth time and her face relaxed a fraction. Sasuke let out a breathe he had forgotten that he was holding.

Naruto moaned and opened his eyes. Sasuke felt his face burst into a relieved smile. He tried to shutter his expression before the dobe saw his weakness, but Naruto wasn't paying attention. The jinchuuriki blinked, trying to focus, his blue eyes red and dull looking. Then Naruto's eyes widened and a choked scream made its way out of his throat. The blonde vessel sat up so forcefully that Sasuke very nearly had to scramble to the side.

"The wards! Someone is within the walls! Dammit!" Naruto snarled, baring his teeth.

"Naruto! Stay still, for Kami's sake! Please!" Sakura pleaded.

"Bring me my armor!" The jinchuuriki barked at her, his face a mixture of fear and anger.

"Shhhh, just breathe, take a moment. Who are they?" Sakura whispered, still trying to get him to lie back down.

"I don't know. I don't know...My...my summons aren't keeping them out! No one, NO ONE, should be able to get through my barrier. I should have protected us.." Naruto spoke quickly, raking his hands through his hair.

"Please! Let me go and fight! You aren't well..." Sakura argued.

"My ARMOR! No time to argue dammit! Bring it...please." Naruto said, finally softening. Sakura looked mutinous, but rushed off to retrieve the gear.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said, not sure how to put his feelings into words. The jinchuuriki shook his head.

"Not again, Sasuke. Not again! There are invaders here! In our HOME! I will not allow them to move any further! I won't let it happen...not again. Believe it!" Naruto snarled as he rose unsteadily.

Sakura returned with his gear along with her own. She moved quickly, efficiently, and said nothing as she braided up her long pink hair. Sasuke watched, disturbed and conflicted, as Naruto dressed in silence. He tried to ignore the way the jinchuuriki's hands shook as Naruto fastened the buckles of his ninja gear.

OoOoOoO

Snow had fallen sometime in the night and the shadowy world of early dawn was white and dreamlike. The cold air burned Naruto's lungs, but he hurried on nonetheless, jumping through the trees with only a whisper of shifted snow to mark his passage. Sakura moved beside him, close and deadly silent. The stars were still fading from the sky, the light cold and mauve and difficult for his eyes to adapt to. There was too much light to fully use his demon given night vision, but still too dark for his weaker human sight to clearly see. Naruto had an uncomfortable feeling that whoever was waiting for them out there in the semi-dark knew that too, had counted on his vision being limited. No one should know that he had more trouble seeing at dawn and dusk than at any other time and yet the timing was too strange to be mere coincidence.

Most nin preferred to attack in the darkest part of the night when their various chakra enhanced vision techniques were maximally effective against lesser skilled enemies. Even nin without chakra aided sight had excellent night vision. A ninja was at home in the darkness and had no need to wait for first light. The timing made no sense. Naruto knew that when ninja attacked other ninja, they sometimes chose to do it in full daylight, but that was rare. All nin usually came at night in order to blend into the shadows more effectively. Dawn was an unusual time for assault. At dawn the shadows shifted constantly, forcing a hidden nin to be in perpetual motion to stay with them as well as observe his prey. The quality of the light was inconstant, playing havoc with any kind of camouflage. There was no obvious advantage to attacking at dawn...unless your opponent was a jinchuuriki. Unless you knew a great deal about jinchuuriki and their weaknesses. The thought made Naruto feel cold and a little afraid.

They flew through the trees, but had barely moved beyond sight of the main house when the invading nin attacked. They came from above, which Naruto had been expecting and Naruto parried the first attack easily. There were at least six of them, but it was simple to pick out and engage the leaders. Naruto sensed the water attack to his left, deflecting the jutsu with a concentrated burst of wind. He was weak and trembled slightly from the effort, but Naruto's resolve was impenetrable. He would be damned if some murderer bent on blood ever put one filthy foot into Sasuke's house again. One shadow from the arcade of shifting darkness cast by the trees separated itself and sprang like a bullet towards Sakura. The girl flung a kunai and then another, before the ninja closed with her. Naruto watched them grapple in his peripheral vision. A set of razor sharp teeth found his arm and the jicnhuuriki grunted in pain. Suigetsu dug into his flesh with inhuman force and Naruto felt the bone threatening to snap. With a movement like a whip cracking, the jinchuuriki snapped the water nin off of his body and into the trunk of a nearby tree. The ancient wood shuddered with the impact but held. Suigetsu melted into his watery form, sliding from the bark instead of shattering against it. Jugo forced Sakura to the ground only to catch her fist squarely in the throat, driven with the strength of a freight train. He tumbled away, gasping, blood erupting from his mouth.

The girl sprang to her feet and started toward Naruto where he still fought the swirling tempest of Suigetsu. The water ninja moved in a way difficult to counter, especially with wind, but Naruto held his ground against him. The jinchuuriki sensed that Sasuke had finally arrived to crouch warily in a nearby tree. The blonde cursed the Uchiha beneath his breath. He had told Sasuke to stay behind. The raven haired ninja's injured knee had slowed him tremendously, but Sasuke still threw the kunai with deadly accuracy. One of the weapons pinned Jugo's sandal to the turf and Sakura was on him in a blink, pummeling the rogue nin into the snow. The girl made a sharp sound of pain and Naruto glanced towards her for a moment. A mere moment was all it took for Suigetsu to gain the upper hand. Naruto took a ragged breathe as he struggled to focus, to block the endless attacks as Suigetsu fought him. With a wet chuckle the water nin swept his liquid body around Naruto, cleaving wetly to his face. Naruto gasped and choked as Suigetsu engulfed him. The jinchuuriki fought, but his defense was weak and unfocused. Sasuke readied another kunai, his sharingan blazing as a lone nin walked brazenly into the purple light.

"Sasuke. You survived." The man in the swirling mask said cheerfully.

"Y...You." Sasuke hissed, the weapon forzen in his fingers.

OoOoOoO

Frankly, Sasuke had forgotten completely about Taka. Too much had happened between his departure from their group and his current position as Naruto's subordinate. He blinked stupidly at Suigetsu for a moment, his foggy brain trying to decide on a course of action. Sasuke was not above burying his kunai in the other nin's face if it suited his purposes, but he was no longer sure what those purposes _were_. Madara snapped his fingers in the cold air, focusing Sasuke's attention away from where Naruto was drowning. Somewhere to Sasuke's right, Sakura gave a grunt of pain. She fought the other nin competently, but even with Jugo down the girl was badly outnumbered. Sasuke felt himself wince as he heard an armored fist connect solidly with her guts. Madara looked briefly to where Suigetsu had Naruto trapped, but approached Sasuke instead of interfering in the struggle.

"Yes. We have come to save you." The man said pleasantly.

"Hai! Sasuke-sama, have you been injured?" Suigetsu asked, a fawning smile on his sharp looking mouth.

Sasuke said nothing. Suigetsu smiled at him once more before focusing inward to where the blonde demon thrashed. His face melted away, leaving only the razor sharp, toothy smile behind. Sasuke knew that under normal circumstances, Naruto would have no trouble defeating a weakling like Suigetsu. However, the jinchuuriki's condition was anything but normal. A deep ache bloomed in Sasuke's chest as Naruto struggled and his arm moved to throw the weapon almost of its own accord.

"Ah, pity. You are within his thrall then." Madara sighed.

"W...What?" Sasuke hissed, not sure if he wanted to fight against the urge to let fly or simply let the motion happen.

He ached to throw it. He ached to kill Suigetsu. Suigetsu, who had only come to rescue him. Nothing made sense. A new kind of sensation had lodged itself into his being, a kind of persistent tugging. Like an itch, an urge too fundamental to name, small and constant making Sasuke want to throw the weapon.

"He controls you, though the bond is new and he barely knows how. Soon though...Soon you will be nothing more than a puppet on his strings. That is, if I were to let things continue as they are. Worry not, my dear kinsmen, soon he will be nothing more than a memory." Madara promised with a chuckle.

Sasuke forced his arm back to his side with a grunt. Was it Naruto doing this to him? Did Naruto even know that he was influencing Sasuke's body? If he did know...would he do it anyway? The thought was unpleasant and not a small bit frightening. Apparently Madara's puppet reference was quite a bit more literal than Sasuke had at first assumed. Madara cocked his head as he watched Sasuke and his posture seemed vaguely pleased. Sasuke tried to clear his mind of the thundering confusion his own emotions wrought in his soul. He took a deep breathe and prepared to throw again.

There was a gurgling shout and Sasuke turned his attention back to Suigetsu, where the water nin fought silently with Naruto. The jinchuuriki had been without air for several minutes, but his movements were not the mad thrashing of a drowning man. Instead, the demon vessel's hands slowed, the motion becoming perfectly controlled and precise. Within the mass of the shark boy's body, Naruto stilled and began generating rasengan, the ultimate wind technique. Sasuke's eyes widened. The manic smile faded from Suigetsu's face, as he focused on stifling the devastating attack ready to happen within his own form.

They fought, the only sound the rush of water and Sakura's combat with Jugo's ninja. There was a moment of struggle, force and counter force, and a sensation of tension in the air. With an ear rending squeal of water turning to steam, Suigetsu was torn apart. Wind roared and wailed as the vast gale was released from Suigetsu's body. Sasuke tried to look for Naruto, but the air was filled with quickly freezing mist. The explosion rocked the tree in which Sasuke crouched and the Uchiha fell gracelessly out of it, unable to compensate for the motion with his lost leg. He landed hard in the snow, rolling to avoid the falling branches broken in Naruto's attack. Water was freezing on his face and Sasuke realized with a jolt of horror that it was Suigetsu's body. Naruto had probably killed him.

His ears were still ringing from the force of rasengan, but the Uchiha moved to his feet, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The snow was still falling, still swirling in eddies where the wind of Naruto's attack remained. Madara stood before him, arms crossed as if patiently waiting. The posture was so reminiscent of his father that Sasuke had to stare at him for an extra moment just to be sure.

Naruto was on his knees, coughing violently, his face pale and his hands shaking. Sasuke felt his own strength waning and knew that the jinchuuriki was very near the end of his abilities. He could feel Naruto falter through the link, the sensation almost like a band of iron around his own heart. Sakura still fought the other ninja, but was steadily giving ground. Sasuke noticed that there were more of the masked assailants than there had been before. Madara must have been holding part of his force back, waiting for Naruto to tire. The girl was strong, tremendously so, but Naruto was the source of her strength and with each technique she wrought, he faded more. The jinchuuriki moved to stand and crumpled back into the snow. Madara laughed, clapping his hands.

"Excellent! Bravo! A worthy attempt!" He laughed cruelly. Something cold and ugly moved in Sasuke's gut.

"Suigetsu..." Sasuke murmured.

"Dead, most likely. Dead in service to you as is proper for a servant." Madara replied gleefully.

"What do you want?" Sasuke hissed.

"Me? Why I have come to free you! To unshackle you from this wretched bond you've been forced into with that creature. It is only right that I come to your aid. We _are_ family." He said warmly.

"Family...?" Naruto whispered, incredulously.

"So I have come to understand." Sasuke replied.

"Sasuke! Save him! Save Naruto!" Sakura shrieked as she grappled in the snow with the rest of Madara's force.

"Now, little princess, why should he do that?" Madara asked. Sakura bared her teeth at him.

"Sasuke! Please!" She pleaded.

"I...I'm fine." Naruto panted.

"Good! It would a be a pity if you were unconscious! I want to hear you _scream_ when I tear Kyuubi out of your soul." Madara hissed.

Naruto swallowed and tried to stand again, his face nearly as white as the snow falling around them. The jinchuuriki's blonde hair was bright and yellow against the monochromatic black and white of the winter forest. The color looked weirdly fragile against so much contrast. Naruto stood, breathing heavily. Sasuke knew that even if the blond could manage to stay upright, he would be no match for Madara and his ninja. Sakura spat fire at the other nin and Naruto winced in pain, falling to his knees again. He was too weak to fight. Too weak even to stand. The sight was so alien that Sasuke felt briefly like he might actually vomit. Naruto was always strong, always powerful...it hurt to see him this way.

"Madara! Listen to me! You can take the Kyuubi...take it...whatever you want. I won't fight you, just...just let them go!" Naruto shouted between pained breaths.

"Naruto NO! Don't you DARE!" Sakura screamed.

The girl fought harder, trying to reach him, but Madara's nin kept dragging her down. She struck another of the attackers hard enough to crush his skull and the crunch of breaking bone resonated through the forest. Another of the masked attackers seized her by the hair, but Sakura twisted around to cut his throat. Blood spilled red and damning into the snow. Madara was beginning to look slightly impatient.

"Oh isn't that just _precious_! So perfectly predictable! Your mother said nearly the exact same thing, much good it did her in the end." Madara sneered. Naruto's eyes widened.

"My...My mother?"

"Oh yes, Kushina, lovely little thing. I tore the demon out of her too and she let me. Let me shred her soul apart. She probably would have let me do _anything_, anything at all, just to save you and your miserable father. The fool." Madara mused, as if contemplating a memory of long ago.

"What? You...did you...?" Naruto couldn't say it. He shook his head in silent denial instead.

"No. Pity, too. I haven't much taste for red-heads, but she might have made a nice little treat...oh, well. No point in moping over lost opportunities when new ones bear taking." Madara said with a careless shrug.

"Don't you fucking TOUCH him!" Sakura roared.

"Save that sentiment for yourself, little princess." Madara said with a yawn, "It is time! Prepare him for extraction. You four, help finish the girl. When you have restrained her...do what ever you'd like."

Sakura blushed at his words even as she blocked a volley of kunai thrown from above. The girl spun deftly deflecting the missiles, which shed sparks against her arm guards. Sasuke could see that she was trying not to use jutsu, trying to limit her chakra use to protect Naruto. She kicked, spun, bit and stabbed, but they kept coming. The girl was thrown to the ground as one of the men plowed into her belly like a rampaging bull. Sakura threw the ninja off of her chest, but not before he thrust a knife through her gut. Sakura bit her lip and was up again in a flash. She buried a kunai in one of her attacker's eyes as another struck her hard over the new wound in her belly.

The girl grunted in agony and Sasuke twitched, wanting to run to her side, knowing if he moved that Madara would dispense with the sadistic satisfaction of watching her struggle and merely kill her. Madara was family and Sasuke knew how he would veiw the situation...the Uchiha were not above removing a source of temptation. Any display of weakness would undo him, weakness was not acceptable, weakness was not Uchiha. If he knew that Sasuke felt anything for her, he would take her away.

They were dragging her down, too many for her to effectively fight without using a ninjutsu technique. Sasuke wanted Sakura to do it, to spit fire or shake the Earth, but the girl stubbornly kept parrying blows. There was the sound of tearing cloth and Sakura's scream. Sasuke tried to escape the pain in his soul, tried to shut it away and focus. That was what he had been taught to do. Emotion was weakness, love was weakness, only the strong were worthy. The ninja laughed like so many ravenous hyenas and sharp bile rose in his throat. Sasuke could no longer see her as she fought them, but he could see the blood, dripping from her wound to mingle with that of the dead. He wanted to scream.

"You want the demon for yourself then?" Sasuke asked, trying to stall, trying to think, to project only calm.

"Yes indeed. That demon belongs to me. To us. To the Uchiha clan."

With a flick of his wrist, the ageless Uchiha master brought more cloaked figures from the shadows of the forest. Naruto had managed to kill one of the men sent to restrain him, pushing a kunai hidden in his boot into the nameless murderer's face. Now, though, the jinchuuriki was easily being overpowered. They held him down tearing the armored plates away from his chest. Naruto fought them, but only with the strength of a man, not a kitsune. Sasuke looked away. as they bound his limbs and tore the clothing away from Naruto's chest.

"Help him! Sasuke, damn you! Save him!" Sakura screamed, even as they stabbed her again. Naruto snarled.

"No, Sasuke. _Leave me_. **Help her, take her away, protect her.**" Naruto hissed and the words came with a pounding force, a thrumming strength, undeniable and straight into Sasuke's soul.

Sasuke moved towards the girl, his flesh obeying a command higher than his own mind. He pulled a kunai away from one of Madara's men and drove it into the skull of one of the men holding Sakura's wrists. The action brought sweet bliss to every nerve of his body, filling him with euphoria. Even mostly crippled, Sasuke dispatched another of the attackers before his first victim hit the ground.

"Gag him." Madara barked and the nin holding Naruto forced a leather strap into the jinchuuriki's mouth.

Like a parent coming to collect a naughty child, Madara hauled Sasuke away from his men, tossing him sloppily into the snow near his own feet. Sasuke shook his head and tried to stand, but Madara's boot was on his chest. The pleasure was still ringing through his body, but it was muted now, distant.

"The little demon is a much faster learner than I gave him credit for. Forgive me, Sasuke. I should have gagged him before." Madara said with a good natured whistle.

To his left, Sasuke heard the fizzling snap of chakra and heard Naruto try to scream around the gag. They had begun the ritual. Sasuke had never actually seen a demon extraction from a jinchuuriki, but he knew that they almost never survived. The scent of burning ozone filled his nose and a deep icy dread crept into Sasuke's soul. Once he had lived only to kill Naruto and now...now...Sakura was screaming too, cursing and calling for the jinchuuriki. Sasuke's heart was hammering in his chest.

"Soon Sasuke. Soon you will be free and more powerful than ever. You will wreak your vengeance and the world will tremble before you." Madara promised.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, PLEASE! Help him!" Sakura wailed.

"What exactly do you expect me to do!" Sasuke snarled, half under his breathe.

Crippled as he was, Sasuke had no hope of defeating Madara in pitched combat. Naruto was screaming, the sound beyond human, the noise of one being torn into two. Sasuke had never heard anything more agonizing in his life. Madara let him up onto one knee, the man's hand still hard on his shoulder. The older Uchiha stood transfixed by the sight before them. Sasuke bit his lips, trying to let the pain focus his fevered thoughts. He had to think. He had to DO something...

Naruto was tied, spread eagle, on the ground. A ring of candles surrounding the jinchuuriki, burned eerily in the rosy morning light, their flames crackling in the falling snow. Naruto thrashed within a circle of ancient sutras drawn with the jinchuuriki's own blood in the snow. Sasuke could see where they had cut him, the long gashes left unhealed, oozing blood. He screamed again and Sasuke almost saw the form of Kyuubi, the demon pulling away from Naruto's flesh.

"No! Naruto! SASUKE! Save him! Save him! Save our family!" Sakura shrieked as one of the ninja forced his hand beneath her clothing.

"I _am_ your family, Sasuke." Madara whispered.

Family? His family? Sasuke was there again, in the darkened halls splattered with blood, the silence of the dead loud in his ears. Naruto was screaming, having bit through the gag in his agony. There was blood, blood everywhere, sinking into the floors. Sinking into the snow. Sakura screamed, the sound sharp with terror. Naruto shrieked, his body rising off the ground in a tortured arch, pain written into every feature. One of the jinchuuriki's wrists snapped against the bounds, the bone cracking deafeningly. The sound inflamed Sasuke. His family. His _family_ was dying.

"Soon Sasuke, soon you will be set upon the path of vengeance again." Madara gloated.

Sasuke aligned his body with the Earth, directing his knee into line with the ground. He sought the peace within, finding the stillness. Position was important, vital, to direct the energy through his vulnerable tissues. A single muscle misaligned and he would fail. The technique would be nearly impossible to achieve with the chakra disrupted in his knee, but perhaps if he forced the energy directly through his uninjured leg...

"Is there anything else? Anything beyond vengeance?" Sasuke asked, his voice low as he moved into position.

"Sasuke! Please! Please!" Sakura sobbed.

"Vengeance is everything. Vengeance and the power to enact it. Vengeance is all that an Uchiha is! To be an Uchiha is to be vengeance taken flesh. Vengeance and _nothing_ else." Madara said, his voice low and filled with fanatical awe.

"No!" Sakura wailed.

"Yes, little princess. It is all he can understand. All he is. He is an Uchiha!" Madara crowed.

Sasuke gathered the lightning, forming the charge, creating the separation. The holy power of force and magnetism like water in his hands. He made his mind still, focused. The quivering of primal energies held in check filled his soul, snapping and powerful, barely controlled. The connection was firm. The world faded away from Sasuke's eyes and only the crackling blue lightning remained. It arced within him, following the carefully laid path Sasuke had made for it through his own body. From air to ground, heaven to earth, through any obstacle. Sasuke activated the sharingan and looked at the energy in Madara's body, the flowing channels of chakra supplying his unnatural existence. Looked at the dying red glow of Naruto's life, a rosy ember barely burning.

"My name..." Sasuke whispered, "Is... _Uzumaki_."

In a motion slow and deadly, the dance of a snake dazzling its prey, Sasuke touched the sparking lightening to the confluence of chi running within Madara's body. The energy crackled and bucked, stealing the air around them. A flash, a boom of utter silence and the lightning tore through the masked ninja's flesh.


	13. Chapter 13 epilogue

_Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. Thank you for helping this to be the first fan-fiction that I have ever finished! Yay! Break out the bubbly! I want to especially thank Greenaceofspades, Dashel, Ashley, Zentau, and maxridelover for their wonderful reviews of chapter 12. Thank you also to Darkhellia666 and Stormingnight for their ongoing support. Thank you again, to everyone who has been reading, the reviews you write are what makes me jump on my computer after medical school every day to write instead of watching TV or other mindless activities. Keep your eyes on my profile for the sequel, __Peace for Traitors__! It is going to be intense and that is all I will say (winks). Now, without further adieu...our conclusion._

Tsunade was enjoying a quiet morning by herself. She had been awake early, stirring just after dawn, but the bone weary sadness that comes from endless tension had been mercifully absent. For once in a very long time, peace with Sound seemed to be on the horizon. Color seemed to have returned to life, the looming pain of war softened with the promise of was laughter in the market again as the tiny spark of hope spread through the desperate tinder of Konoha. The village of Sound was sending a delegation to discuss the terms of a mutual truce, now that their heir had been found, and fire country had already signed a pledge of peace. No new council members murdered in the night. No new battle dead were rotting in the morgue. Even Hiashi Hyuuga had quieted his endless bitching about the danger Naruto represented to the village. Tsunade smiled, apparently even the idiots were taking a break. The Hokage felt like she could finally breathe again. There was a crisp chill in the air and so she had lit a cheerful fire in her fireplace and was considering asking Kakashi over for tea.

Tsunade had only added a single cap of brandy to her tea when she heard the frantic pounding on her door. She sighed heavily, wondering what new 'concern' the council had cooked up to bother her with this time. She rose, reluctantly abandoning the half strength tea, and opened the door. Tsunade gasped at the sight waiting for her there.

Sasuke Uchiha, the perpetual bane of her ruling existence, stood in the portal as if he might collapse at any moment. The youth was coated in blood, his dark kimono torn and still smoking in some places. His face was bruised and he was trembling so violently that his teeth were chattering. He panted a bit before swallowing hard and falling to his knees.

"Help...Please...Naruto...Sakura." Sasuke managed to choke out between rasping breaths.

"Wait! What? What's happened to Naruto and Sakura?" Tsunade urged, icy fear coiling in her gut.

"Madara...Tried to take Kyuubi. Please, they are hurt." Sasuke managed, swallowing again.

"They sent you?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow. Sasuke shook his head.

"They are too...too injured to come...please, hurry!" He hissed, a bit of anger leaking into his expression.

"Fine. I'm coming." The Hokage said, as she left the warmth of her home to follow one of her greatest enemies out into the snow.

OoOoOoO

Naruto's wounds were not healing. The blood still oozed from the gashes in his chest and his broken wrist hung limply in the leather strap she had used to bind it. She was crying, the tears blurring her vision as she tried to convince her bruised, broken fingers to properly tie the tourniquets. She felt within, seeking the link, but felt nothing. Nothing except the pain of her wounds and the darkness on the edges of her vision, as blood loss threatened to drag her into unconsciousness. Sasuke had managed to disrupt the ritual, kicking the candles out of alignment as he finished off Madara. Sakura prayed that he hadn't been too late.

The filthy corpse of Madara Uchiha lay slumped over in the snow where Sasuke had killed him. Even as a blackened mass of burned flesh, the man had been hard to take down. The lightening attack Sasuke used would have easily dispatched a lesser enemy, but even with his chakra channels scorched beyond recognition, the unholy terror had still been moving. Sakura gagged a bit at the memory and knew she would never be able to forget it. Sasuke had torn himself away from the older Uchiha's grip to spit fire at him, burning whatever flesh the lightening had spared, but the ancient monster had still managed to attack him. He had been hardly more than blackened bones in the end, clawed fingers still reaching for Sasuke's throat even without the muscle to move them. Worse than any nightmare and made even more gruesome in the bright light of morning. In the end, Sasuke had decapitated Madara with his own sword, messily, thrashing like a serpent in the snow. Now made black with the ash of charred flesh. She tried not to think about the way the single sharingan eye had burned in that ruined skull. How Madara had lived so long was a mystery to her, one the girl never wanted to solve. Sakura decided that she was going to pulverize the rest of the corpse to powder as soon as she recovered...just to be sure.

The ninja bent on raping her had been so startled by Sasuke's lightening that she had been able to kill two of them before the blue light even ceased. To kill them had been so easy, she was so angry, so close to completely losing control. Their touch, so rough, so dirty, made her feel like her very soul was writhing in disgust. If Sasuke hadn't saved them...she shuddered, feeling unclean. She might have killed more if she could have blocked the emotions away and analyzed their positions strategically. Instead, she had merely sprang upon them like a rabid animal and by the time she had finished tearing out the throat of her third kill, the others were gone. Her clothing was torn and there were bruises on her breasts, but they had not managed to violate her. The others, confused by Sasuke's evident betrayal, had made good their escape. She wanted to follow them, to kill them all, but Sakura was badly injured with wounds too sluggish to heal.

Sakura was too tired to chase them once the adrenaline seeped from her blood. She was too tired even to stand. Her wounds screamed, still leaking fresh blood into the snow as she crawled to Naruto. At least on the outside, the jinchuuriki was not severely injured but she could not hear his heart at all. Beneath the closed eyelids, Naruto's azure eyes were dull and unresponsive. He looked dead. Sasuke had checked for a pulse, and been unable to find one. The absolute horror in his eyes was not something Sakura thought she or anyone else would ever see. Naruto had used up everything to thwart the attack, but Madara's little trap had almost worked.

Kyuubi was not laying waste to everything around them and so the ritual had obviously failed, but whether or not Naruto had survived the attempt was not certain. The jinchuuriki's heart had been still in his chest when Sakura finally managed to crawl over to him. She had forced Sasuke to shock him with his lightening technique, but that kind of energy was very hard to control. The raven haired ninja was terrified that the electricity meant to save had been too great and ended up destroying Naruto's heart instead. Sakura had been terrified to use it, to use a lightning combat maneuver as a defibrillator was totally insane, beyond desperate. Sasuke told her so, told her that it was madness, raking his bloodied fingers through his hair as he shouted at her that it would never work. Despite the risk, Sakura knew that it was Naruto's only chance. A terrible chance they had to take or Naruto would never survive. The brain could barely survive minutes without blood and Naruto had been down and silent for at least 90 seconds. Too long, it was too long. Sasuke had delivered shock after shock to restart the stubborn organ and there were electrical burns on Naruto's chest. Sakura pressed her ear to the burned flesh, again desperately searching for his heartbeat. She could not bear it if he died. She had felt a pulse after the last volley of electricity, but it had been so faint...so faint.

Sasuke had gone to find help and once alone Sakura could not hold back the tears. She cried and breathed for Naruto and pumped his chest when she found the strength. He was dying, dying right here with her and she could do nothing to save him. Sakura could not tell if he was breathing on his own. Was that flutter a heartbeat or merely her own pulse pounding through her shattered fingers? What would she do without him? What would Sasuke _do_? The thought terrified her because Sasuke could easily leave without a single word or burn everything and everyone to the ground in his grief. Sasuke's emotions were still an alien force within his heart, something he viewed as foreign shameful. Something he had no idea how to control or embrace. Without Naruto to confront him, to accept him, to love him...

There were footsteps in the snow and suddenly Tsunade was standing above her, dragging a unsteady looking Sasuke by the scruff of his kimono. Sakura tried to rub the tears from her eyes, but only succeeded in smearing the blood across her face.

"Sensei, sensei please..." She sobbed.

"Come on now Haruno, pull it together." Tsunade barked.

Sakura took a deep breath and nodded, trying to still the trembling of her fingers. Tsunade grabbed Naruto's wrist, her eyes closed, feeling intently. Sasuke collapsed in a gasping heap to her right, looking too young and too desperate, nothing like the chilly warrior he was. Tsunade finally nodded.

"The pulse is there. His heart is beating, but too slow, too weak..." The Hokage muttered, hunting around in her bag.

"Will he live?" Sasuke whispered.

"Do you care?" Tsunade asked, raising a single perfect eyebrow.

"Yes. Please save him." Sasuke said, gritting his teeth, sharingan eyes whirling.

"Sensei, he has lost a lot of blood." Sakura whispered.

"I brought more, get a line in. We will give him a nutrient injection to, his chakra is too low. " Tsunade ordered, her teeth tight on the needle cap as she prepared a syringe.

Sakura nodded in relief and carefully threaded a long needle into Naruto's vein, searching expertly for patent flow. She was working. She could do this. Tsunade administered a dose of atropine and Naruto moaned softly, his heartbeat stronger with each passing moment. Sakura wiped the tears away again and applied bandages to his wounds. Sasuke knelt beside them and she didn't miss how he was holding Naruto's hand, how he never once let it go.

OoOoOoO

"So, our little oni will live?" Shizune asked softly.

"Hai, though not for lack of trying to die, that is damn sure." Tsunade said with a sigh.

"But he is stable?"

"Yes. I gave him enough blood to make three more men and enough soldier pills to sustain an entire army, but he is finally breathing rhythmically on his own. He is starting to heal the way a jinchuuriki should."

"Was the demon taken?" Shizune asked, concerned.

"No. Kyuubi is still secure, as is Sasuke, though I have no idea why the little bastard didn't just leave when he had the chance. In this state, Naruto has no power over him." Tsunade muttered crossly.

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Please, Shizune. The thrall is only as good as the alpha and Naruto has been on the brink of death for almost an entire day. Sasuke could have gone at any time. I was certainly too occupied to stop him."

"Oh, no. I believe you about the thrall. I just don't think that the jinchuuriki influence is the only thing holding Sasuke by Naruto's side." The medical nin said with a mysterious little smile.

"Your game is boring me. What the hell do you mean?" Tsunade asked crossly.

"Can't you tell?" Shizune teased.

The woman gestured to where Naruto rested in the hospital bed, Sakura asleep beside him. Tsunade has railed at her for refusing to sleep in her own bed, but Sakura had merely laid down beside Naruto and the Hokage did not have the heart to move her. The hospital bed was really too small for two, but they slept comfortably nonetheless. Sasuke was sitting by their bed, resting his arms against the mattress. Sometime in the night he had nodded off, draped over Naruto's sleeping body, his dark head rested against the jinchuuriki's belly. Even in slumber there was an energy about the three of them, a connectedness. It was there in the way Sakura's hand cupped Sasuke's skull, in the way she nuzzled Naruto's shoulder. A kind of need in the way Sasuke covered Naruto's body with his own, loving and protective. A strength present in how Naruto had turned towards them, even in deeply sedated sleep, curling around Sasuke's shoulders. A kind of wordless affection, deeper even than romance, tying each to the others. Tsunade chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose so." She sighed.

"He loves him and he loves Sakura. That is why he stays. I think that Sasuke Uchiha may finally have learned how to live." Shizune said, sounding a bit amazed.

"Yes, perhaps so. I hope so. I hope they are strong together, my best student deserves nothing less." Tsunade chuckled, her eyes lingering on the bandages wrapped around the girl's hands, "Haruno, how is she now?"

"The same as when you asked five minutes ago. Her wounds are healing quickly, though it is too early to say if she will ever be as dextrous as she was. Her career as a surgeon may be over, but I don't think so. She heals faster than anyone I have ever seen, her bond to Naruto perhaps. If anyone can overcome this, it will be her." Shizune said, smiling softly.

"Good. I need her hands. This damn war may be ending, but the violence is far from over. That silly girl has thrust herself into a world of chaos far more dangerous than she realizes. Hiashi is already plotting and Kami only knows who else. They will challenge Naruto in any way that they can, especially now that Sasuke shares his bond. Everyone fears his power, fears what might happen if the Uzumaki clan were to rise to the level of the great Uchiha. Not to mention the fact that Sasuke has made his own horde of enemies. Clan politics are never easy, even for those who understand how the game is played. She was not raised to be a matriarch. Sakura doesn't have the slightest idea what kind of turmoil is waiting just outside these doors." Tsunade whispered, grimly.

"Turmoil you say?" Shizune mused, gazing to where the three lovers slept and healed, "Looks very peaceful to me."

_Fin_


End file.
